To prepare smoothies you don’t really need anything more than a sharp knife and a blender, but there are a lot of utensils that make the work easier and make the results both tastier and more elegant.
BLENDER. This is a must for making smoothies. A hand-held blender with its own bowl also works well but I recommend investing in a proper blender with a jug. They are more fun and easier to work with. Pour all the ingredients in, press the button, and the smoothie is ready to serve. Blenders are sometimes called mixers.
There are a few things to think about when you are choosing a blender, for example how powerful the motor is, how many speeds it has, how much it can hold, and whether it can crush ice. I recommend a blender with a glass jug as they are more robust, easier to keep clean, and not as easily scratched or discolored as the plastic ones. Nowadays there are jugs made of high quality plastic that do not get scratched or discolored, but they are usually considerably more expensive. A blender does not have to be able to crush ice but it is definitely an advantage if it does.
If you are choosing between different machines, think about how often you want to make smoothies and how many. If you only make smoothies two or three times a month maybe the hand-held blender you already have in the kitchen drawer will be good enough, but if you want to become a smoothie freak, as I am, it is worth investing in a high quality machine that costs more, lasts longer, has a long guarantee, and can basically blend anything. A good blender pulverizes the ingredients thoroughly, which makes it easier for the body to absorb the nourishment. I use a Vitamix that can blend anything from seeds, nuts, ice, frozen fruit, and small berries to hard vegetables such as carrots, beets, and all kinds of leaves.
JUICER. To make smoothies with hard vegetables and fruit you need a juicer that first releases the juice. There are two kinds of juicer: a juice extractor and a juice press. When you are choosing your model, remember that performances differ and they produce different quantities of juice. If it is going to be used frequently it is probably better to invest in a proper press rather than in a juice extractor.
PRESS. Chops the fruit and vegetables into small pieces. These are then pressed through a fine metal sieve. Juice presses are slightly more expensive than juice extractors but can cope with bigger volumes and are more efficient. Also the juice is more nourishing since more enzymes are preserved in the process. Juice made with a press should be drunk within 48 hours, preferably immediately. The press should be washed up immediately after use to avoid the fruit residues getting dried and stuck on.
WHOLE FRUIT JUICER. Tears up the fruit and vegetables and whizzes the fruit flesh through a fine mesh. Whole fruit juicers are usually cheaper than presses but extract less juice. Also they destroy some of the enzymes as the rotating blades can get very hot. That also means that the juice oxidizes and has a somewhat shorter shelf-life. Juice made in a whole fruit juicer should be drunk within 24 hours, preferably immediately. It is important that the machine is washed up immediately after use, otherwise the fruit can get dried and stuck on.
CITRUS PRESS. You can go a long way with a simple manual citrus press. There are a lot of different variants, both electric and manual, and it is the quantity of juice that determines which model you need. If you are going to make one or two glasses of juice at a time it is easiest to use an ordinary manual citrus press; they are easy to clean, don’t take up much room, and are relatively cheap. If you want to make bigger quantities of citrus juice it may be worth investing in a more sophisticated citrus press. Wash it up immediately after use to avoid the fruit residues drying and sticking on.
HAND BLENDER. A good choice if you don’t make smoothies very often and then only in small quantities. The hand blender is easy to use and even easier to clean. But don’t forget that it is designed to liquidize food, not to crush hard fruit or ice, and that the blades can snap if they are overloaded.
FOOD PROCESSOR. A good machine to have in the kitchen, but it is best suited to large quantities of smoothies or juices. Some of the contents of the smoothie tend to get stuck in the processor bowl since it is not very easy to empty. Often the food processor consists of lots of small parts and can therefore be difficult to clean.
ORANGE PEELER. Produces much thicker and longer strips of peel than a lemon grater and is much easier to peel with than an ordinary knife.
FRUIT BRUSH. Can be used instead of a peeler, since a lot of vitamins, antioxidants, fibers, and minerals are found in or just under the skin. Fruit brushes come in different hardnesses, so you need one for carrots, beets, and other hard root vegetables that need to be scrubbed thoroughly and a softer version for perishable fruit such as ripe pears and kiwifruit.
FREEZER. A big freezer is very useful if you are going to freeze large quantities of fruit, ice cubes, and smoothies. Fruit should not be stored for more than two to three months in a normal freezer, but may be stored a little longer if it is below 0 °F / –18 °C.
FREEZER BAGS. These are my best friends and irreplaceable when it comes to freezing fruit, herbs, and all sorts of other things. Freezer bags are space saving and hygienic. I usually buy masses of fruit when it is in season and freeze it in portions. Sealable bags that shut out the air effectively are best. Don’t forget to put a label on them showing the contents, date, number of portions, and if appropriate the weight. Freezer bags and self-adhesive labels are available from any large local supermarket.
ICE CREAM MOLDS. Perfect for turning your smoothie or fruit juice into refreshing ice pops. Enjoyed by both adults and children and much better for you than readymade mixes. Remember not to use ice in these smoothies and to make the flavor a little more concentrated than usual.
ICE MOLDS. Really essential, for example when you want to freeze coconut water, coconut milk, passion fruit, fruit purée, freshly squeezed juice, or left-over smoothie or liquid bases, such as oat, soy, or nut milk. I freeze everything that is left over or can be used for a chilled smoothie. The cubes act as both flavoring and stabilizers, and take the place of ordinary ice. Transfer them to a plastic bag as soon as they have frozen and seal it carefully, then they will keep for a long time in the freezer.
CRUSHED ICE. Not necessary if your blender can cope with blending whole pieces of ice. You can also crush ice by hand by wrapping the ice cubes in a clean dish towel and banging them with a heavy object such as a hammer.
KNIVES, BIG AND SMALL. High quality stainless steel knives are best. Always use big knives (preferably slightly flexible ones) for big fruit so that you get whole slices and don’t lose any of your fingers. With small knives you can make decorations from both peel and whole fruit. The sharper and thinner the knife, the easier it is to fillet grapefruit, oranges, and other citrus fruit or peel some fruit really finely, such as kiwifruit. Since many of the vitamins lie in or just under the skin, the less fruit you cut off, the better.
REFRIGERATOR. All dairy products, freshly squeezed juices, and open packs of nut milk must be stored in the fridge, likewise most fruit. To make sure they do not become overripe or become contaminated by other foods, it is best to keep fruit in sealed plastic bags. On the other hand, if you want the fruit to ripen it should be stored at room temperature instead.
KITCHEN SCALES. These are good for measuring precise proportions of all the ingredients. They can also be used when you want to freeze fruit in exactly the right size portions. In the recipes I give the weight of fruit and nuts, and also the volume in cups, but the volume can vary. You can also use your eyes and sense of taste to determine the amounts. Fruit often varies in flavor depending on the season and variety, so small differences in weight do not matter much when you are making smoothies, unless you are counting calories. The important thing is that you like the taste and that you learn to experiment.
SET OF MEASURING CUPS. These are useful tools for measuring out juice, nut milk, yogurt, spices, and other ingredients. If you are experienced your eyes should tell you a lot.
OLIVE PITTER. These make life a lot easier—if you want to pit cherries or other small fruit for instance. Of course you can also use a very pointed small knife, but an olive pitter does the job much more easily and quickly.
POTATO PEELER. This is an essential utensil in the kitchen for peeling mangos, hard root vegetables, and nonorganically grown fruit such as apples and pears. Organic and locally produced fruit and vegetables do not usually need peeling, but if you are not sure you can wash and peel them as thinly as possible. Waxed and sprayed fruit should always be peeled, otherwise there is a risk that you will absorb toxins that are bad for your body. There are special fruit washing products that dissolve the wax and other spray pesticides.
GRATER. Very useful for grating lemon peel, ginger, carrots, beets, and other things before they go in the blender or are used for decoration. A stainless steel grater is best for acid and citrus fruit.
SIEVE. Press the smoothie through a fine sieve to filter out pieces of peel and pits. I sieve orange, lemon, and lime juice also, to get rid of the taste of the bitter pits. It is a good idea to use a plastic sieve for acid fruit as metal can affect the taste.
CHOPPING BOARD. Always keep a separate chopping board for fruit and vegetables. Remember to wash it immediately after use, otherwise it can become discolored and absorb flavors. Even with careful cleaning it can be a breeding ground for bacteria, so replace it as soon as it gets scratched or discolored.
SPATULA. This is a useful tool for scraping out the blender so that none of the good stuff is wasted.
APPLE CORER. This makes life easier if you can’t be bothered to cut and core the apples and pears with an ordinary knife—what’s more, you get whole fruit rings that can be used for decoration.
There are lots of nutritious things you can boost your smoothie with. It is easy to supplement the nutritional content and adjust the recipe to just what your body needs. Most of these added ingredients can be found in health food shops, and many of them are also available in well-stocked supermarkets in general.
One kind of extra nutritious supplement is dried super fruit and powdered berries such as acai, goji, lucuma, rose hips, inca berries, mulberries, maqui, buckthorn, cranberries, and blueberries. Healthy cold pressed oils such as linseed oil, coconut oil, and hempseed oil are brilliant for providing the body with an extra energy boost, too. Or why not add a little extra fiber with, for instance, linseed, chia seeds, hemp seeds, oat germ, or wheatgerm? You can also mix in various powdered seaweeds, such as spirulina, chlorella, arame, wakame, and dulse, or superfood powders such as maca, corn grass, nettle powder, and wheatgrass.
If you want to boost the smoothie with extra proteins, there are various wholly natural, vegan, and GM-free protein powders in different flavors. You can also try raw brown rice protein, pea protein, hemp protein, oat protein, and seaweed protein. And don’t forget all the nutritious nuts, seeds, nut oils, and nut butters that are also great for blending into smoothies.
Some fruit and vegetables have very strong flavors and need to be used in small quantities. For example if you have too much chili or ginger in your smoothie it will become undrinkable. Taste it while you are making it and dilute it with bland juices if it is too strong. If you think one flavor is too dominant, add a little water and juice from, for instance, carrots, apples, pears, or oranges.
Some fruit, such as melon, mango, and banana, are particularly sweet and can make the smoothie nauseating. A useful trick for reducing the sweetness is to add a little lemon or lime juice, which also enhances the fruitiness.
If the smoothie is too thick and the consistency is like a purée—which can happen if the fruit does not contain much liquid—you can thin it with a little water, nut milk, or freshly pressed juice. In order to preserve the pure fruit taste, water is the best option.
If the smoothie is too thin you can try adding a little soy yogurt, banana, avocado, mango, or protein powder. You can also add tofu, muesli, nuts, or other healthy ingredients that will absorb a little of the liquid.
Some fruit and vegetables are very rich in fiber, and they will make the smoothie coarse and difficult to drink if the blender does not pulverize them properly. In that situation you can run them through a juicer first (or blend them into a purée) and then press the fruit juice through a fine sieve before mixing it all with the other ingredients.
If you want to make a refreshing and icy smoothie, the best way is to use frozen fruit. It also works if you blend ice into the finished smoothie. Remember that the ice will melt if the smoothie is too warm, so it is a good idea to refrigerate the fruit before preparing the smoothie. It is better to use too much ice than too little, small quantities melt quickly and make the smoothie watery.
Most fruit smoothies can be made into popsicles. Leave out the ice and most of the water from your recipe and try to make the flavor a little more concentrated—ice cream has less flavor because it is so cold. Pour the smoothie into ice cream molds with a stick in the middle and place them in the freezer. You can make the ice cream stripy by filling the mold with smoothies of various colors and flavors; allow each layer to freeze for 30–45 minutes before you add the next so that they do not run together. Do not fill the molds up to the edge as the liquid expands slightly in the freezer. The popsicles keep for a week in the freezer, after that they become icy and lose their flavor.
To do justice to the vitamins, flavor, color, and consistency you should serve smoothies and freshly pressed juices as soon as possible after preparing them. Home-made smoothies do not contain any preservatives and are not pasteurized either. If you want to save your smoothie for later, it can be stored in a clean, sealed glass container in the refrigerator but preferably not for more than 24 hours, as the vitamins disappear slowly but surely and it will go off quite quickly. Shake the smoothie well before you drink it if it has been standing in the refrigerator for a while.
Don’t forget to decorate your smoothies. Serve them in attractive glasses and decorate them with fresh fruit, herbs, edible flowers, and other pretty things. You can buy fun ice molds, cocktail stirrers, umbrellas, and similar things in craft shops, or you can make them yourself or bring them home from your holidays.