I've never gotten into the smoothie craze, but I would love to add more fruits and vegetables to my eating plan. Sometimes I would just love to have something that I can grab and go or just chug down. Smoothies have less bulk than salads or cooked veggies. They are tremendously portable. All that is required for making a salad or veggies is a good knife to cut them up. To make a smoothie, you need to have a machine to process the food.

Vitamix is the gold standard for smoothie machines, but I'm just too cheap to spend that much money on a machine. Instead, I chose the NINJA 1200 Ultra Kitchen System. A major reason for my choice was cost. I found my machine on sale for $120. This system includes a heavy base that contains the motor. There are strong suction cups on the bottom to hold it to the counter. Plastic is used for all of the blending containers. Three individual serving cups are ready to make small quantities of drinks. A large pitcher is used for blending and juicing. Dough can be made in the 64-ounce bowl. A dough hook is included. Both the pitcher and bowl have metric and customary measurements on the sides.

The NINJA 1200 Ultra Kitchen System is solidly packaged in a large box. Included with the system is literature. There is a Quick Start Guide and an Inspiration Guide that includes a variety of tasty looking recipes. The obligatory Owner's Guide is also included. There are diagrams to illustrate the instructions. One nice touch was the Speed Setting & Uses page. It details the functions, containers, attachments, speed button, to use when making any type of food which may be produced with the NINJA 1200 Ultra Kitchen System.

Washing the components was easy, and so was getting started. Just make sure to actually read all of the applicable instructions. Oops! The arrows on the lid and handle weren't aligned, so my NINJA just sat there and blinked his little red light at me. Once the lid was safely installed, I was off and running.

I made two smoothies. One was Salad in a Cup, which used various vitamin and mineral rich vegetables. The other was a sweet treat using frozen and fresh fruits. I was looking for a smoothness of texture, as well as taste. Did the NINJA produce for this novice smoothie maker?

It takes a while to get a smooth texture. I blended my ingredients until they were well-chopped. Then, the NINJA went right to the crush cycle. After five minutes of crushing, the texture on the veggie smoothie was perfection!


Below are the recipes for Salad in a Cup and Cherry Delicious smoothies. Process the ingredients on crush until your desired smoothness is reached. If you don't have a NINJA, you could try using a blender or food processor.


Salad in a Cup Smoothie Recipe (All measures are approximate. Adjust them to your taste.)

Ingredients:

1 cup of frozen kale
4 cups-tightly packed-fresh mixed baby greens and spinach
3 Campari tomatoes-cut in half and seeded
3 small colorful sweet peppers-stems removed and seeded
Juice from ½ of a large lemon
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Flesh of an avocado that has been peeled and seeded
½ cup cooked garbanzo beans (Canned are fine.)
1 1/ cups of filtered water


Cherry Delicious Smoothie Recipe (All measures are approximate. Substitute the fruits to suit your taste.)

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen mixed cherries (Make sure that there are no pits in there! I just cut them in half.)
1 peeled banana
1 seeded unpeeled apple
Juice from ½ of a large lemon
Flesh of an avocado that has been peeled and seeded
1 cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons of coconut oil


Back to the question, "Did the NINJA produce for this novice smoothie maker?" The answer is not a simple yes or no. The Salad in a Cup Smoothie was just like silk. It was smooth and delicious. I noticed in the Cherry Delicious Smoothie that some ingredients clung to the sides as they were being processed. It took almost 10 minutes of using the crush cycle to get a somewhat smooth product. It was flavorsome, but it was not homogeneous. I could identify tiny bits of apple peel, but the effect wasn't unpleasant. Perhaps a bit more of liquid would have improved the texture. If I had paid more for this machine, I would expect both smoothies to be absolutely smooth! Overall, I found the performance of the machine satisfactory. Wash the NINJA right after use to make cleaning as easy as possible. A bottle brush makes cleaning the sharp blades easier. One thing that I really appreciate is the lack of leakage at the base. There is no liquid lurking down there.

If the NINJA 1200 Ultra Kitchen System continues to perform, it might well be one of my favorite kitchen tools of all time. I recommend buying the NINJA 1200 Ultra Kitchen System. It makes a delicious smoothie without a lot of fuss. I bought my NINJA at Costco with my own funds, and I was not paid for this product review. Amazon also sells the NINJA. To learn more about the NINJA, use the link below.


Ninja Ultra Kitchen System 1200


When I mention stores or products by brand name, these are the ones that I use. I have not received free products from the manufacturers, nor have I been paid to mention the products or stores by name.

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