The One Minute Smoothie Clinic Okay, so you followed the recipe (or thought you did) and your smoothie didn’t quite come out the way you expected. The good news is that it’s often possible to “repair” a smoothie that’s already made. Or, at the very least, give you a tip for next time. Here are some fixes to try: Too sweet? What do you do? Throw it out and start over? No way! You can repair it by: Adding more ice or adding a little water (1/4 cup) and ice. or Add fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. at a time, until you have it the way you want it. This is our favorite unsweetening method because it doesn’t dilute the flavors like adding water and ice will. or Add a little milk or almond milk if it’s a milk based smoothie like Peanut Butter Banana. You’ll probably also have to add more ice when you do this. or Add a little plain yogurt. It’s very tart and as little as a tablespoon will offset the sweetness. If you like a tart taste in smoothies, consider replacing the vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt in recipes with plain. Using very ripe fruit will really increase the sweetness of a smoothie. If your fruit is very ripe (especially bananas) you may want to use less than you usually do if you don’t like your smoothies real sweet. Not sweet enough? I guess the answer is pretty obvious, but we’ll give it anyway: Add either more frozen juice concentrate (whatever kind is in the recipe) or honey. It doesn’t take much. As little as 1 tsp. in a 20 oz. smoothie will really increase the sweetness. Too thick and icy? With the machine off, add water (about 1/4 cup at a time), stir a little with the tamper, and run until smooth (about 20 seconds). The more you run the machine, the thinner it will get. If it’s a milk based smoothie, use milk or almond milk instead of water. Not thick enough? With the machine off, add ice (about 1/2 cup at a time). Turn on and run about 15 seconds. If it’s still not thick enough, stop the machine and add more ice. Don’t over process. Running the machine longer doesn’t make it thicker. In fact, just the opposite is true. If you’re following recipes and all your smoothies are coming out watery, you may be running the machine too long. About 20 seconds on High is all the processing you need for most smoothies made in the Vita- Mix. Is the consistancy too creamy or not creamy enough for your taste? A lot of banana, yogurt or frozen fruit in a recipe tends to result in a creamier texture. When you make a smoothie with frozen fruit, you’ll need less ice than making the same recipe with fresh fruit. And the resulting smoothie will have a slightly different texture. It’s personal preference. You can make them either way and decide which one is for you. What about adding things like ginseng and vitamins to smoothies? The answer is yes and no. Yes, you can add them and the Vita-Mix will blend them right in. But, no, we wouldn’t advise it because most herbs and vitamin tablets have really strong flavors that will affect your smoothie. The exception would be high quality vitamin and mineral powders that are specifically designed to be mixed into smoothies and juices. If you’d like to experiment with these “add ins”, we would advise using extremely small quantities until you get a sense of how it affects the flavor of your smoothie. There are a few health “adds” that, used conservatively, either don’t affect the flavor or actually taste good. Here’s some to try: flax seed, sesame seed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, toasted wheat germ, oatmeal and oatbran. Experiment with them a teaspoon at a time. As important as nutrition is, don’t sacrifice flavor. “Drinking” Your Whole Foods May Be The Road To Maximum Nutrition. Recent studies have shown that some cancer fighting nutrients like beta-carotene (found in carrots, cantaloupe, apricots, etc) and lycopene (found in tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit) are absorbed as much as 3 times more efficiently by your body when the foods are pureed versus eating them raw. Although beta-carotene and lycopene were the only food properties that were the subject of these studies, many experts believe that pureeing fruits and vegetables (as in a blender) causes many nutrients to be much more bioavailable (absorbed) by the body. Pureeing “breaks down certain chemical bonds in fruits and vegetables and releases the carotenoids” according to the July, 1999 issue of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, the premier health and wellness newsletter in the world. Sure, you get enormous food value just eating a carrot. But you may just be maximizing the nutritional punch of that carrot by blending it up in a power smoothie. To Peel Or Not To Peel? Many people are becoming aware of the fact that the peels of many fruits and vegetables are actually very nutritious and should be going into them instead of the trash. The Vita-Mix is a wonderful tool to liquify the whole food, including the peel, right into your smoothie. The catch is, not all peels should be used. Some are strong tasting, for instance, and some are just not meant to be eaten. So, for maximum nutrition and good taste, how do you know which ones to use and not to use? Here’s What You Need To Know Here are some very basic peeling guidelines for the most common fruits and vegetables: Fruit- Use the peel: apples, peaches, apricots, nectarines, pears, plums. Don’t use the peel: avocado, pineapple, banana, melon, kiwi, papaya, mango, guava Skim off the outer zest and leave the white pith on all citrus fruit. Vegetables- Use the peel on most common vegetables except: beets, cucumber, garlic, ginger, onions, sweet potatoes, yams, eggplant. Whether you peel or not, wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before blending.