A Brief Note on Fruit Smoothies

Serge Belongie

April 17, 2005

Having recently gotten braces, I have become a fan of fruit smoothies. In this note I will describe the technique I have learned from my roommate Hugh, a master smoothie maker. The result is a smoothie that is a lot cheaper and, in my opinion, tastes better than smoothies from Jamba Juice.

Here are the basic ingredients I keep on hand for making a smoothie:

I buy the berries and fruit in the frozen foods section at Vons or Ralphs, and I get the soy milk (either plan or vanilla) at Trader Joe's. I buy a few bananas every couple of days so that I always have some that are ready to use and some that still need ripening. The soy milk has a long shelf life, but only is good for 9 days after opening.

The steps I follow to make the smoothie are as follows. First, I pour the three types of berries and some mango into a blender. I fill the blender about 1/3 high to make roughly a 20 oz. smoothie. Then I pour in some soy milk, just enough to cover the fruit. One could put in the banana at this point, but for fun I delay that part. Next, I cover the blender and blend it on high intermittently. It needs poking with a spoon every once in a while to get everything really mixed. At some point the blended mixture, which is deep reddish-purple in color, will enter a steady state where it gracefully folds in on itself as it gets pulled down to the spinning blade and cycled up again. At this point, it is still rather slushy, and lacking that nice consistency that the banana will give it. It is then safe to remove the lid, at which point I peel the banana and slowly introduce it into the center of the mix. It will start spinning when it contacts the blade, and then rapidly disappear. You'll notice that the consistency of the mix becomes softer and more glossy after adding the banana. At this point, the smoothie is done and ready to enjoy.

Smoothie Haiku
by Serge Belongie and Hugh Aitchison

Blueberry smoothie
Swirling 'round in the blender
Let's add banana