There’s a Vitamix Cookbook version of this that uses cheddar cheese, but I wasn’t in the mood for cheese so I used nutritional yeast and cashews. I also am not a fan of their use of onion. They use 1 teaspoon of raw onion. If you use any more than that the sharp raw onion flavor is overwhelming, but with the single teaspoon you miss out on the rich flavor onion can provide. I increased the amount of onion, but cooked it first. Continue Reading →
These muffins are a great snack. They freeze well, and I eat them as I would a granola/Clif/Lara bar, but they have a lot less sugar, are fresher, and have more whole food ingredients. They’re more work to make than a smoothie, but you get at least 12 servings out of a batch, and they’re more portable. Continue Reading →
This simple recipe combines the last two things I blogged about: coconut butter and pineapple. It was pretty good, though I can’t say it’s one of my favorites. The coconut butter went in smoother than when I previously tried something similar with shredded coconut straight from the bag, although there was still some noticeable graininess (more than when I add whole nuts or chia seeds to smoothies). For a single serving:
1/6th of a medium pineapple
1 Tbsp coconut butter
4 ice cubes
Blend on high and enjoy!
I’ve been curious about making coconut butter for a while, and I finally gave it a shot. It’s made from dehydrated whole coconut, not to be confused with coconut oil, which has been separated from the coconut’s fiber/protein.
I used an 8 oz bag of shredded coconut, minus a few tablespoons that I previously tried putting in a smoothie. (I was disappointed with the smoothie because the coconut was a bit grainy; I’m curious if smoothies made with the coconut butter will be less grainy.) I used this Lets Do Organic brand, though I bought it locally–I paid a bit more per weight, but I’m not ready to commit to 6 pounds of it yet. I was slightly concerned that 8 oz wouldn’t be enough to circulate well in the Vitamix, but it turned out to work fine. If you’re an avid coconut butter consumer, you could consider doubling or tripling this recipe, but for now I’m just testing the waters. Continue Reading →
Pineapple is a nice addition to fruit smoothies. It is particularly sweet and juicy, and a bit sour. I use it in a variety of random fruit mixtures (along the lines of this one). Cutting one up may be a little intimidating at first, but it’s actually very straightforward (see below), and I’ve found that a partially cut pineapple can keep for about a week in the fridge.
Having one feels like a bit of a luxury since they’re typically flown in from Costa Rica or Hawaii, but it’s a nice change of pace. Since they come from the tropics, they’re generally available all year. Years ago someone recommended Del Monte Gold branded ones to me, and those are the ones that I’ve found to be most consistently delicious. Continue Reading →
Certain combinations in high-powered blenders can end up frothy, foamy, or with a mousse-like texture. Sometimes it’s appealing, but other times you really don’t want all the extra air bubbles whipped into your smoothie or soup. You can minimize bubble formation by blending for less time, but sometimes you want to get a really smooth consistency by blending for longer.
Here’s a somewhat surprising trick to remove bubbles and eliminate froth: turn the blender to its lowest setting and then slowly ramp it up until the top of the liquid just starts to circulate. In some cases the lowest speed is still too fast, in which case you can put it to the lowest speed and repeatedly briefly pulse it on. As you run it at this low speed, you will see bubbles coming out in the center. It’s a bit hard to describe, so here’s a video of bubbles coming out of a pumpkin pie smoothie:
You’ll notice at the end of the video the liquid starts to circulate faster because it’s not as thick due to the loss of of bubbles/foaminess. If you want to keep removing bubbles you can turn down the speed so that it’s just barely circulating again, and continue until you don’t see any more bubbles coming out. It works surprisingly well. I’ve compared the volume before and after, and I’ve seen a half cup of air come out of a four-cup mixture!
This is one of the recipes that I am most proud of, and I’ve never seen a description of something like it. It’s extremely simple and easy to make (under 5 minutes), but the result is delicious and pretty unique as far as blender creations go.
I first made this one evening when I was jonesing for something chocolaty and didn’t have any chocolate around. I was thinking of making a sort of chocolate almond milk, so I put some almonds, cocoa, sugar, water, and ice in the blender. Continue Reading →
I’ve been meaning to make this since the beginning of fall, but I just got around to it this week. I adapted a recipe from another blog, and had the idea to use persimmons. I’ve found that persimmons have enough sweetness that I don’t need to add any extra sweetener, and they go with the pumpkin nicely. If you can’t find persimmons, you can use another mild sweet fruit, or you could just add a sweetener of your choosing (maple syrup, as used in the above linked recipe, sounds pretty good). I’ve been using canned pumpkin, but you could obviously also cook your own. It’s really simple: pumpkin, persimmons, nuts, spices, water, and ice if you want it cold. It comes out really smooth and creamy. Continue Reading →
I recently started putting cilantro into savory blends, and I think it tastes amazing. I use a smallish handful of cilantro along with half a lemon (the amount of cilantro in the picture is probably enough for ~3 1-quart blends). Some people hate cilantro, and for a long time that discouraged me from using it. But assuming you’re not one of the 4-14% of the population that thinks it tastes terrible, it’s really tasty! Continue Reading →
I had been missing the rich deep flavorful tomatoes of summer, so when I saw dried tomatoes in the bulk bin at the supermarket I decided to give them a try. I’ve been impressed with the flavor they give to savory smoothies. They’re not quite the same as a nice summer tomato, but I’ve found them to be a lot better than the bland winter tomatoes that show up at the store. I put them in the V8/gazpacho-inspired blends that I described a while back.