Smoothies, anyone?

No photos today, just a quick recipe & question.

It’s insanely hot here in Chicago. I just passed a paper that said we’re having record high temperatures for the month, and it’s making June feel more like August. They’re really not wrong.

In good & bad news, this is really suppressing my appetite, and Bill’s as well. Bad news, because it means less cooking & tasty food. Good news because it means less eating out & spending money.

However, we have taken on making smoothies again. This is partially to clear out the freezer of berries we froze almost a year ago. It’s already getting to berry season, and we still have old berries! Yikes! That, and our freezer is about to be very full of pork, but more on that later.

Anyway, our smoothie recipe is incredibly simple.

Ingredients

~1c frozen berries (other fruit chunks will also work, we just haven’t gotten there)
~1/4 c HOT water (optional)

1/2 – 2/3 c plain or vanilla yogurt (others would be fine, but we tend to want to flavor yogurt on our own)

1/2 tbsp honey (optional – we usually use this for plain yogurts, but not vanilla)

Milk for thinning

Instructions

Get out & assemble your immersion blender. Dump the berries in that cup that came with it. Pour the water over the berries to soften them just enough that your immersion blender doesn’t give up while trying to crush them. Dump in the honey, if using, then the yogurt. Shove your immersion blender through the yogurt & mash the berries a second to see if it can do, then flip it on blend to your heart’s content. Thin with milk & blend some more, if necessary to get the right consistency. If it’s too thin, add more yogurt.

This makes one smoothie.

Comments

As you can see, we make smoothies one at a time here. This is mostly due to our immersion blender not being able to do more than that, but Bill’s kind of glad it works out this way. If I could make us the same smoothie every day I make smoothies, I would, and he’d never get raspberry in a smoothie again.

I’m not really a raspberry fan.

This is also almost not a smoothie. It’s really closer to a very cold yogurt drink. It’s thicker & creamier & less prone to melting than a traditional smoothie. I appreciate that, but I do sometimes wish I were making that kind of smoothie I can get when I order one somewhere. Still, I know what’s in this one, and it’s really delicious, so I’m okay with that.

Questions

How do you make your smoothies? What kind of blender do you use? What’s your favorite flavor? Is yours more traditional, or akin to ours?

Tell me, please! I’m running out of berries, and I may not freeze as many this year!



P.S. No, seriously, please comment & tell me.

P.P.S. This goes double if you’re someone related to Bill, as I bet you have some knowledge of things he likes like this. Also double if you own a restaurant.

P.P.P.S. As you can imagine, if you’re Bill’s relative AND own a restaurant, this goes triple for you.

10 thoughts on “Smoothies, anyone?

  1. The hot water and the immersion blender are contributing to your “almost not a smoothie” texture – the water is making it more… watery and an immersion blender can’t handle enough ice to give the texture you want. If you had a regular blender, you could try about equal quantities of berries, ice, and yogurt, and then adjust to taste. You could maybe try adding milk powder to what you’ve got, it should thicken it.

    • I did figure the water was part of it, based on the way it vaguely separates when it warms up. I didn’t realize my sad immersion blender was also part of the problem.

      I kinda want a real blender now.

  2. Definitely skip the hot water, it’s making your smoothie too liquidy. If it’s only to help thaw the berries, I’d say leave it out and just let the berries sit out for a little to soften up instead. I’ve always done smoothies in a “normal” blender, but I do like the idea of being able to make single-serving-sized ones with a stick blender, so I’ll have to give it a try.

    Also, I am bad and like to use ice cream in my smoothies, making them more like milkshakes.

    • Hee! Bill would actually love it if our smoothie came out more liquidy. These things are like cold, super thick yogurt drinks.

      Now I want a milk shake. I already had two tamales today. When will the madness stop???

  3. I use a standard real blender to make my smoothies, usually like this:

    1/2c plain yogurt
    1/2c vanilla soy milk
    1/4 to 1/2c raw spinach (yes, I’m serious, you can’t even tell…any way to squeeze in more veggies)
    1/2c mixed berries, fully frozen
    1 banana
    1 Tbsp wheat germ

    I get a little over one pint glass of smoothie with these quantities. I usually put them in the blender in the order listed above, mainly to ensure the spinach gets blended all the way into the yogurt before everything chunky hits the blades.

    • I’ve heard of spinach in smoothies before, but usually more of a “savory” smoothie.

      As for microwaving, it’s mostly because I didn’t think of it. But it’s a moot point now, because our stick blender is kaput. We’ll have a new one soon, and it will hopefully be able to deal with frozen berries.

  4. Re: frozen fruit + hot water

    Why don’t you thaw it in the microwave for 10-20 sec? That way, you don’t have to use the hot water and your blender won’t freak out.

  5. Patty is actually the expert on smoothies around here… at El Rio Texicantina she does fresh fruit margaritas all summer long. Living in such a bountiful fruit and berry paradise allows access to the best raspberries, Peaches, red cherries (my fav), blueberries, huckleberries. It’s all about fresh fruit and good tequila. Frozen fruit will work in a pinch (or out of season – frozen mango chunks work great) but the tequila needs to be decent. Here’s her recipe – leave out the booze if you have to – still delicious.

    1 cup fresh fruit
    2 oz. silver tequila
    1 oz. simple syrup
    juice from 1/2 fresh lime
    1.5 cups ice

    Blend until smooth and serve in a big, sugar rimmed glass. Garnish with fruit. Have plenty of supplies on hand… yurgonnawantanuther.

    • Another? I want one now! I may make a couple when my friend Jessie visits on Saturday.

      Or maybe Sunday. I’ll buy a bunch of blackberries at the market, and then have a couple of margaritas to help me relax after it’s over. Especially since Bill won’t be around to help out this week.

      Thanks for the sharing! And give my thanks to Patty!

      • Re: blackberries

        Just had blackberries mixed in frozen custard the other day. To die for!

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