Tips for nutritious and delicious smoothies

Tips for the ultimate smoothie experience

Easy to concoct with ingredients you likely have on hand, smoothies can be a great choice for a snack or mini-meal. And while the sky is the limit when it comes to creating a smoothie, there are a few things you can do to maximize both nutrition and flavor.

Use fresh, ripe fruit

For optimum flavor, start with high-quality fresh fruit at the peak of ripeness. Always wash fruit before adding it to your smoothie. Also, cutting fruit into either slices or chunks before putting it into the blender will make it easier to blend.

Start with crushed ice

When blending ice into your smoothie, it's best to start with crushed ice or small ice cubes. If you only have large ice cubes, place them into a strong, self-sealing plastic bag and crush down into smaller pieces with a hammer or the bottom of a heavy metal pan before adding to the mixture to be blended.

Thicken with frozen fruit

For a thicker smoothie, blend in cubed or pureed frozen fruit. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, melons, bananas and peaches are all excellent fruits to freeze ahead for use in smoothies. To freeze fruit, first wash it and cut it into cubes, slices or chunks. Sprinkle light colored fruit, like bananas, with lemon juice to help prevent them from darkening. Place the fruit in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Once frozen, pop the fruit into self-sealing plastic bags and store in the freezer. You can also puree fresh fruit, freeze it in ice cube trays and then store it in freezer bags.

Sweeten it up with healthy frozen treats

Frozen yogurt, sorbets and ice cream can also be used to thicken smoothies. Though delicious additions, expect extra calories as well.

Reduce the fat

To lower the fat and calorie content of your smoothie, use skim or soy milk instead of whole milk; plain, nonfat yogurt in place of regular fruit yogurt; frozen yogurt or sorbet rather than ice cream; and unsweetened fruit instead of sweetened frozen fruit. For example, a basic smoothie made with 1 cup fruit yogurt, 1 cup frozen sweetened strawberries and 1 cup ice cream contains 740 calories compared to 290 in a smoothie made with similar amounts of plain low-fat yogurt, unsweetened frozen fruit and fruit sorbet.

Boost the flavor

Boost the fiber content of smoothies by leaving the skin on fruit and/or by adding ground flaxseed, wheat germ or wheat bran.

Up the calcium

Increase the calcium content by choosing a milk product as the smoothie's base and/or by mixing in nonfat dry milk powder.

Go naturally sweet

For added sweetness, blend a touch of honey or maple syrup into the smoothie. Adding half of a very ripe banana will also make the smoothie sweeter.

Make flavored ice cubes

For a twist, try using flavored ice cubes. Flavored ice cubes can be made by pouring fruit juice, tea or nectar into ice cube trays and freezing.

Mmmm, flavor extracts

Experiment with different flavorings, such as extracts, cinnamon, nutmeg or cocoa powder. Keep in mind a little goes a long way.

Don't use raw eggs

Avoid adding raw eggs because they can harbor Salmonella Enteritis, a disease-causing bacterium. To get the protein eggs provide without the cholesterol or bacteria, try using pasteurized eggs or a pasteurized egg substitute.