Smoothie (nutri-niinja etc)

diy

Made an impulse purchase the other day and bought a Nutri-ninja pro. Seems capable of turning anything in to liquid. Was a little ambitious with the content and ended up making the most disgusting Carrot and kale post work-out low cal smoothie (for fasting day). However, a pre-ride Oat, almond milk and banana mix works quite well.

anyone else got one these and come up with some interesting/useful recipes?

hypster

I don't have a nutri-ninja but do have a powerful blender that I use for smoothies all the time (daily in fact). I guess it's a case of trial and error depending on your taste but here are a few general hints I can give (I have been juicing and blending for years).

I buy fresh pineappples and cut them into 2cm chunks that I freeze and use maybe 3 chunks as the basis for most of my smoothies. You can also freeze other fruits like mango or even buy berries ready frozen for use in smoothies.

I also generally use half a banana for a slightly creamy texture or a whole banana in a post ride recovery smoothy for a bit of extra carb replenishment.

Here are some basic recipes I use most of the time:-

Mango Smoothie
3 x 2cm chunks of pineapple
Similar amount of frozen mango
slice of honeydew melon
1/2 banana
1/2 orange
1 tsp honey
250 ml cold water

Spinach Smoothie
Big handful of prewashed baby spinach leaves
3 x 2cm chunks of pineapple
slice of honeydew melon
1/2 banana
1 cm piece of fresh root ginger (optional if you don't like ginger)
1 tsp honey
250 ml cold water

Berry Smoothie
Handfull of berries (blueberry/strawberry or even black grapes works too)
3 x 2cm chunks of pineapple
slice of honeydew melon
1/2 banana
1 tsp honey
250 ml cold water

Citrus Smoothie
1 whole orange or 2 x tangerines
3 x 2cm chunks of pineapple
slice of honeydew melon
1 tsp honey
250 ml cold water

I usually add about 25g of unflavoured impact whey isolate to the smoothie as well for my recovery drink after a long, hard ride and substitute milk for the water.

I generally steer clear of root vegetables like carrots as they don't blend very well and give the smoothie a very rough texture. Similarly any fruits that have pips in like raspberries as they make the drink very gritty. I also substitute maybe 1/2 apple (no need to peel) if I have run out of melon as the "background" fruit.

I hope that helps and as I say, try a few things and see what you prefer.

p.s. Steer clear of beetroot!

jgsi

Bit overpriced blender imo.. yes you cannot blend beetroot
best to save up for a quality juicer.. to get the beetroot effect proper.. a money saver especially when you crop your own beet from the allotment!

hypster

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19655584#p19655584]JGSI[/url] wrote:

Bit overpriced blender imo.. yes you cannot blend beetroot
best to save up for a quality juicer.. to get the beetroot effect proper.. a money saver especially when you crop your own beet from the allotment!

I've had both over the years and much prefer the blender as it's a bit more versatile and gives you the whole fruit/veg in the drink and much simpler to clean after use. I think you tend to use more produce in a juicer as well whereas you can use water/milk/soy etc. in your smoothie for variation.

diy

thanks for the suggestions, particularly the frozen pineapple. Yep I've done juicers before and they are such a faff cleaning all the time. The ninja appealed for two reasons, the upside down cup which makes mess less likely and the non designed to fail drive (i.e. metal on plastic) which so many blenders have. Like I said impulse purchase

pastryboy

I blend raspberries all the time but if the seeds bother you then pour your smoothie through a sieve.

Made the same mistake with a kale drink as well. Absolutely revolting. Spinach is a better option.

I generally stick in a banana plus whatever frozen fruit I've bought. Usually waitrose frozen blueberries and lidl forest fruits mix. Lidl also do a milled linseed thing if you want a bit of fat and protein as well which I've found doesn't add too much grit.

diy

ah ha ! frozen fruit - genius idea.

pastryboy

I assumed everyone used frozen fruit!

Much cheaper than what passes as fresh in the shops (discovered Lidl are doing 750g bags of strawberries and raspberries for around £2.50) and almost certainly more nutritious.

If you want to do things properly then grow your own spinach, it's very easy to do.