Smooth start of the day

Recently a friend asked me what blender she should get and mentioned that VitaMix seemed popular, yet it was somewhat extravagant. That matched precisely how I felt several years ago when our blender decided it had made its last smoothie. In our quest to find a replacement, we purchased three or so different blenders, climbing up the price range ladder, and returned them all. The worst was a fatal engineering flaw causing the bottom of the jar to unlock at the worst possible moment. Too bad that I didn't take a picture of strawberry smoothie decorating our kitchen counter and our kitchen floor. Another one had blades so dull that the smoothies came out stringy.

At that point we reached a moment when nothing but extravagance was an option. I ordered a commercial version of VitaMix over Ebay. The reason I went with the commercial option was that it supposedly had better sound proofing, and a more powerful motor.

I am sure you are wondering why ear muffs appear in the picture! I opened up the blender and looked hard for any evidence of sound proofing, and I am yet to find any. My experience with friend's VitaMix tells me that the same appears to be the case for home-use models, or at least it was a few years ago. Jasna rightfully demanded ear muffs to be used when the blender operates at a high speed, and I acknowledge she was right. Besides, how cool is it to have kitchen equipment so powerful one must wear ear muffs! If I was Tim the tool man, I sure would have produced a very respectable grunt. I don't believe the urge for ear muffs is unique to VitaMix, any powerful blender will be loud.

I must say that I became a firm believer in using a high-power blender such as VitaMix. The smoothness of the smoothies and creaminess of soups without cream is just unbelievable. The motor appears to be built to last for a long time. Not all is perfect though. We had to purchase a new jar, because the seal on the original jar went, and the blade assembly cost the same as the whole jar. Recently I had to replace the potentiometer that regulates the blending speed. Very easy to do yourself if you are not afraid of a soldering iron. Otherwise, the $10 DYI repair apparently costs $150 if done by the friendly and certainly well qualified VitaMix technicians. Given that my blender is out of warranty, I opted to face the soldering iron. Which I hadn't had a chance to use since we moved from Slovenia. Imagine another grunt by Tim the tool man.

So let us make a smoothie! I categorize the ingredients into three categories, fresh fruit and vegetables, liquid, and add-ons. Proportions and quantities are somewhat arbitrary. The last thing one needs in the morning is to break out a scale and weigh kale by the gram. This is what I used this morning:

Fruits and vegetables: About 1/3 bunch of kale, a handful of fresh pineapple cubes, one small cored apple, one small cored pear, one banana.

Liquids: Orange juice, about one cup, and juice of one lemon.

Add-ons: A couple of tablespoons of almonds, 2 tablespoons of soaked chia seeds, a tablespoon of coconut oil, a good sprinkling of cinnamon, a tablespoon of oat bran.

I start the blender at a slow speed and then increase the speed just enough to incorporate and chop all the ingredients, then I increase the speed gradually, all the way to the turbo mode. I let the blender run at the top speed until I can't see any specks of kale or other ingredients, probably about a minute. The result is a bright green smoothie with a nicely balanced flavor. 

Green goodness

The key is the lemon juice which brightens up the flavor and balances out the somewhat dull taste of raw kale. Note that I added some sweet ingredients, namely the orange juice, the apple, the banana, and also the pineapple. Those, too, round up the flavor rather nicely. One can, of course adjust the ingredients in any arbitrary way and cut down on sugar. For example, water works just fine instead of orange juice. I like a lot the combination of orange juice and pineapple, like in pin colada, that is why I used both. Jasna tells me that she learned from the nutrition class at Stanford that the morning is the time when one needs to get some carbohydrates, so the smoothie serves that function for us.

The yield is more than one can and should drink at breakfast. Jasna and I each drink about a cup each, the rest goes in the fridge and we use it as a very tasty snack. Note that this smoothie is loaded with fiber from kale, almonds, chia, pear, and oat bran, and that it also has a bit of protein, so it is almost a complete meal.

Note: After reading the blog, Jasna corrected me. Half of the calories from the fruit come from fructose, and what the lecture was referring to was glucose. We continue to consume the smoothies.

Note that you can throw your vitamin pills in the blender along with other ingredients. This is a good trick especially if you have a problem swallowing.