Joy of Blending - Page 8 of 18 - Vitamix and Blendtec blender recipes and tips

All-Green Smoothie

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Adam

As I’ve written before, sometimes it’s nice to make a smoothie that has a pure vibrant color. Here’s one with all green ingredients. Berries plus greens can be tasty, but the combination often results in a muddy brown color. This recipe is a bit of a liquid salad, and it’s refreshing. In spite of its bright green color, it does not have an overwhelming vegetable flavor.

Avocado gives it some thickness, turning it from a total juice into a smoothie. The avocado also makes it less frothy. (Check out the difference between the picture on this page, and the recent spicy green drink.) Continue Reading →

Vitamix Preset Programs Demystified

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Adam

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what the different Vitamix preset programs do, this post is for you. The programs ramp the machine through a sequence of speeds, and I thought it would be interesting to find out what those sequences are. Since I previously figured out how to measure Vitamix speed, it was straightforward to measure the program sequences. Continue Reading →

Spicy Green Drink

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Adam

I was inspired to try this after repeatedly seeing spicy green drinks with cayenne on the menu at places that serve fresh juice. Here’s a Vitamix version. I decided to make it thinner than my typical smoothies by adding a little extra water and skipping the seeds/nuts. The heat from the cayenne is invigorating and is a nice variation from my usual blends. Continue Reading →

Honey-Peanut Sorbet

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Adam

This is a super simple and fast sorbet recipe. It follows in the steps of the pistachio sorbet that I previously described, but this recipe blends in a single step (instead of blending, freezing, then re-blending). The trick is to start with nut butter instead of whole nuts. Flavor-wise, I love the honey-peanut combination. Continue Reading →

Which seeds and peels to exclude from Vitamix blends

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Adam

You can throw practically anything into a Vitamix, and it will blend to a smooth consistency. This leads many of us Vitamix owners to go through a phase of wanting to blend everything. So much power! But, as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Some parts of produce can ruin a blend by being extremely bitter or fibrous. Continue Reading →

The best Vitamix spatula?

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Adam

My current favorite spatula for scraping things out of a Vitamix container is the iSi slim spatula. It’s just the right size, shape, and stiffness to cleanly scrape blends out efficiently. Continue Reading →

Macadamia-Tangerine Salad Dressing

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Adam

A Vitamix will make creamy salad dressing from nuts, and you can easily customize the flavor. We ate this dressing on a massaged kale salad, but it’s also good on a simple lettuce salad. The dressing is mild and creamy, slightly sweet with a hint of tartness, and has a light kick from thyme. Continue Reading →

Cabbage salad with peanut dressing

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Adam

A Vitamix makes finely chopping cabbage quick and easy. I wrote about this technique a while back in a post about coleslaw. Preparation-wise, this recipe is nearly identical to the coleslaw, but the taste is completely different because of the dressing. I “wet chopped” the cabbage and “dry chopped” the carrots and peppers (more details below). Continue Reading →

Kumquat Smoothie Recipe

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Adam

I always thought kumquats would be too sour to put in a smoothie, but earlier this month I saw a kumquat smoothie over on Serious Eats, so I decided to try making one, and it was great. This recipe reminds me of my Orange Julius recipe, in that it is nice and creamy and citrusy, but the flavor is pretty different.

Mango and honey add sweetness, while cashews add creaminess. Then a bit of ground cloves adds a little interesting flavor, and a touch of salt mellows some of the bitterness and brings out sweetness. Continue Reading →

8 tips for maintaining a healthy smoothie habit

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Adam

This time of year many of us are thinking about healthier habits. Drinking wholesome smoothies can be an easy and enjoyable way to increase our intake of fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods. However, sometimes we just get out of the habit. Whether you’re new to healthy smoothies, or have been drinking them for years, the following tips can make it easier to keep on blending. Continue Reading →