How can something so delicious, refreshing, and satisfying still be so good for you? The fruit is divine blended all together, and the vanilla and maple syrup flavors are just right.
With future smoothies in mind, go ahead and get that beautiful whole melon, even though you know it would take up too much real estate in the refrigerator and you couldn’t eat it all before it goes bad. Get a whole honeydew, watermelon, or cantaloupe instead of buying a half or a wedge at about the same price. You can make outstanding fruit smoothies with both fresh and frozen fruit, so eat what you want and freeze the rest (see sidebar here). With bags of fruit chunks in your freezer, it’s easy to quickly whip up a frosty smoothie without adding ice cubes or crushed ice. A cache of frozen fresh fruit is your friend.
You can make smoothies in advance for the next morning. Refrigerated in a jar or container with a good lid, it will stay delicious, energizing, and fresh-tasting for two days. Just shake it up a little before drinking, morning, noon, or night.
Yields about 3 cups
Time: 10 minutes
1 ripe banana
1 cup watermelon chunks
1 cup orange juice
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or other sweetener (optional)
1 cup fresh or frozen fruit chunks:
Red smoothie: red grapes; strawberries; red raspberries; red or Bing cherries; red plums
Yellow smoothie: green grapes; pineapple; mango; honeydew, Crenshaw, or canary melon
Orange smoothie: green grapes; cantaloupe; peaches; apricots; nectarines; papaya; guava
Purée all the ingredients in a blender. If your fruit is all or mostly frozen, read the instructions for the frosty variation.
Sweet Fruit Frosties: Make an icy-thick frosty for breakfast, a snack, or dessert, or to spoon into a thermal travel mug and take with you. Use mostly or all frozen fruit in the same proportions as above and purée it in a food processor or a strong blender. If the mix is too thick to purée smoothly, add a little more orange juice … or let the frozen fruits defrost a bit. Serve in milk shake glasses or tumblers with a fountain spoon or a fat straw.
We like a sweet fruit smoothie for breakfast with an Avocado Egg Sandwich or a Mexican Toasted Cheese Sandwich. Or blend up a smoothie for dessert after a meal of burgers and potatoes or pizza or Zowee Thai Fried Rice.
AT-THE-READY SMOOTHIE FRUIT IN YOUR FREEZER
It’s easy to freeze fruit for smoothies. Rinsed and stemmed strawberries, grapes, and other berries can go straight into freezer bags and then be stored wherever they fit in the freezer.
Bananas, peaches, pears, or plums ripening too soon? Pop them whole and unpeeled into the freezer; there’s no need to wrap them, but store them in freezer bags if you prefer. To peel, rinse them under warm water for a minute and the skins will easily slip off. Then cut the fruit into rough chunks and discard the pits. The bananas won’t be pretty, but they taste great in a smoothie, adding body and creamy richness.
Peel and cut chunks of pineapple, melons, and mango. If you have enough freezer space, spread them out on a baking sheet and freeze for about 3 hours or overnight; then loosen from the pan and put into freezer bags. You can also just put the fresh chunks into large freezer bags, pat them into a fairly flat layer, and stack the bags flat in the freezer. After a couple of hours when they‘ve begun to stiffen, bend the bags in your hands to separate the chunks and put back into the freezer. Don’t stuff the bags full—you’ll use more bags, but you won’t have to hack apart massive icebergs of fruit.