Stop Screwing Up Your Smoothies!
Rochelle Bilow, photo by Danny Kim
Whether you think of them as breakfast, a mid-afternoon energy boost, a hangover cure, or a lifesaving necessity, it’s hard to deny that green juices and smoothies are having their moment, and have been for a while. They’re ubiquitous at health food stores and even street carts, but with price tags reaching up into the double digits, it’s more economical just to make your own—not to mention almost as easy. To get the most bang for your banana, we broke things down into two very different categories: green juices, which mix veggies and fruit; and smoothies, which are all-fruit and often contain dairy. To walk you through the basics, we spoke with senior associate food editor Alison Roman, assistant food editor Claire Saffitz, and test kitchen manager Brad Leone about how to purée like a pro—and what traps to watch out for. Here are the smoothie and juice common mistakes to avoid.
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JUICES
1. A Blender Oughta Do the TrickIf you’re serious about juicing at home, you need to invest in a juicer. (A blender is really best for smoothies—more on those in a minute.) A well-made juice is smooth and homogeneous in texture, a consistency achieved only with a juicing machine. There are two types of juicers to choose from: centrifugal juicers, which separate the juice from the pulp and fiber, and are generally more affordable; and masticating juicers, which are more costly due to more complicated machinery, but include the pulp and good-for-you fiber in the finished product.
2. I Need Lots of Produce—So I Need Bargain Produce!
“Your juice is only going to be as good as the fruits and vegetables you make it with,” says Leone. And yeah, that means you’ll have to shell out a little more cash for high-quality produce. Farmers’ markets, CSAs, and farm stands tend to sell produce that’s grown in nutrient-rich soil. That said, if you purchase produce from a grocery store and feel good about the quality, by all means use it. The important thing is that the produce taste fresh and flavorful, so eat a bite before juicing. If it’s bland or “off,” don’t bother. As Saffitz points out, “If you’re not thinking about the flavor of the produce, what’s the point?”
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3. The More the MerrierA green juice with veggies and fruit is healthy, so yeah, it’s tempting to load as many pieces of produce in as possible. But before your kitchen looks like an episode of Veggie Tales exploded all over the countertops, consider this: Not only will you be packing in extra calories, but also you’ll over-complicate the flavor profile and muddy the color. “Adding 15 different things will make it a murky brown color,” explains Leone. As a general rule of thumb, choose a variety of textures and ingredients, while keeping flavors complementary. Here’s a basic ingredient list from Leone to get your creative juices flowing (sorry, we had to!):
1 green apple, roughly chopped
1/2 bunch kale leaves
Handful of mint
1 bunch parsley
1 lemon, peeled and roughly chopped
1″ piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
Don’t forget: Not all produce is created equal. “I avoid juices with tons of beets and apples,” says Roman, on account of their high sugar content. “If you’re drinking sugar, what’s the point of juicing?”
4. Mango Masks the Taste of Kale, Right?
“If you don’t like it on its own, don’t put it in a juice,” advises Roman. If you’ve never been a fan of kale, don’t bury it with mango and hope for the best. Instead, choose produce you enjoy eating—tender baby spinach is a good start for beginning juicers. Is anything off-limits for at-home juicing? Technically no, but Leone does advise exercising a little common sense: “I wouldn’t add mustard greens to a juice.” Saffitz agrees, noting that spicy greens (arugula included) should be kept to a minimum.
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SMOOTHIES
1. Get a Quick Fix with IceNeed an icy-cold smoothie, STAT? Too bad: The test kitchen doesn’t advocate putting ice in any smoothie. The texture will be slushy, watery, and, well, icy—not creamy and smooth. If you’re angling for a cool treat, freeze the fruit itself. Leone chops up fruit—papaya is a staple—and stores it in the freezer. That way, he’s always ready for a smoothie. Other go-to fruits? Banana is a classic, and so is pineapple. “It’s super sweet,” says Leone.
2. I Had a Smoothie for Lunch, So I Can Eat Extra Dessert!
Let’s be honest, here: If you put ice cream in your smoothie, it’s a milkshake. (Stick to yogurt or milk.) And while we’re being honest, Saffitz reminds us that, generally speaking, most smoothies aren’t the healthiest option: “You can drink so many more calories than you can eat,” she says, explaining that an innocent-looking smoothie can pack in tons of hidden calories, sugar, and fat. How to keep a healthy balance? Consider skipping the dairy in favor of nut milk or, as Leone does, a little cranberry juice thinned with water. Think about how many pieces of fruit you’re puréeing (you wouldn’t eat four bananas in one sitting, would you, Curious George?), and keep that portion size small: 8 ounces or less.
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