175 Best Superfood Blender Recipes: Using Your NutriBullet300 Best Blender Recipes: Using Your Vitamix
I received the above two books for review from Robert Rose (thought I’d reviewed them months ago; oops). I decided to post about them together because they’re so complementary. Obviously if you have a NutriBullet, you’ll have cause to prefer 175 Superfood Blender Recipes: Using Your NutriBullet, and if you have a Vitamix, you’ll have cause to prefer 300 Best Blender Recipes: Using Your Vitamix. But either book can also be used by owners of other high-quality blenders, so they’re not totally exclusive their respective machines, either.
NutriBullet 12-Piece High-Speed Blender/Mixer System, GrayVitamix 5200 Blender, Black
175 Best Superfood Blender Recipes Using Your NutriBullet
The NutriBullet, for those who are unfamiliar, is a high-powered blender with/tailored to small cups. The regular container is 24 oz., but there’s a taller 32-ounce container and a smaller 16-ounce container. This may not be ideal for large-batch recipes or big families, but it can be very handy for smaller projects (like making a dip) or for individuals, couples, or those within larger families who often eat separately from others (due to dietary restrictions, etc.) (I actually don’t have a NutriBullet, but now I’m intrigued. I often make smoothies for myself, and the Vitamix is overkill for that.)
Keep in mind that if you’re making these recipes in a standard-sized blender like the Vitamix or Blendtec, you may need to multiply the ingredients.
175 Best Superfood Blender Recipes is divided into two main sections: “promoting health with blended superfoods” and “superfood recipes for your NutriBullet.” The first section is further divided into chapters about the principles of healthy eating, health benefits of superfoods, and health benefits of blended foods.
The chapter about healthy eating is blessedly balanced. There is no vilification of any one food group, just a lot of good general principles like variety, nutrient density, etc. The authors even correctly describe vitamin B9 as “folate,” rather than the often-inaccurate “folic acid.” The next chapter lists a series of “superfoods.” This is always a subjective term, but the foods listed are all nutrient-rich real foods. Most of them, such as avocados, carrots, and chickpeas, are fairly familiar. A few are less common, like Goji berries and sea vegetables. Each lists the key nutrients found in that food, health-promoting properties, health conditions that benefit, some of the recipes that include it, and even tips for purchasing those foods where you might not know how to identify quality or ripeness.
The title “Health Benefits of Blended Foods” for the next chapter is a little misleading. The chapter begins by pointing out how easy blended foods make it to pack a variety of nutrient-dense foods into your diet. However, the chapter (‘though good!) is mostly about health benefits of a nutrient-rich diet. As I’m sure you know or can imagine, those are many!
The recipes section has just a few pages about the NutriBullet, knowing your ingredienst, and making adaptations or substitutions, then gets into the individual recipe chapters: breakfast smoothies; anytime smoothies; dressings, dips and spreads; soups & sauces; kid-friendly recipes; and desserts.
I have no idea what the difference is between the “breakfast” smoothies and the “anytime” smoothies, or if the authors/publisher just felt the smoothies so dominated the book that they needed to be broken up. Almost all of these recipes serve 1. A few make 2. Many would be AIP-acceptable or fairly easily adapted to be.
The dressings, dips, and spreads section spans everything from Strawberry Almond Dressing to Cilantro Jalapeno Ranch Dressing to African-Inspired Lentil Dip (see below) and Mango Guacamole.
Soups and sauces include both chilled and hot soups, as well as savory sauces like enchilada sauce, and sweet sauces like Triple-Berry Sauce.
Kid-friendly recipes offer a good bit of variety. Around half of this chapter is kid-friendly smoothies. These all serve 1-3 (depending, I assume, on the size of the kid/serving). There’s also mocktail-type drink, a couple dips/spread, “beanballs” to serve over spaghetti, and several types of desserts/snacks. (The Chocolate-Covered Coconut Avocado Balls are vivid green inside and would be great for St. Patrick’s Day!)
Finally, the desserts section runs the gamut from shakes/beverages to puddings to pies, tarts (see below), and truffles.
The format of these recipes is typical of Robert Rose books, with clear, direct, unfussy formatting, but few pictures. Most of the book is in black-and-white, with several sections of full-page, full-color photographs interspersed.
300 Best Blender Recipes Using Your Vitamix
For those of you unfamiliar with the Vitamix, it is…well, I would consider it a high-powered blender. It can incorporate even tougher parts of many fruits and vegetables, such as apple cores, blending them right in with everything else. It can do more than that, grinding grains and even running fast enough that, via friction, it can heat foods (like soup or drinking cocoa). However, in my opinion it doesn’t do the job of a grain mill or a food processor nearly as well as those machines, so I don’t consider it a good substitute for either, except on an occasional basis. The regular container is 64 ounces, and there is a 32-ounce container available, as well as a “dry container” — which is very similar to the regular container, but has blades that spin upward rather than downward. (This helps keep dryer foods from jamming into the bottom edges of the container.)
This book has 5 pages about the Vitamix and 4 pages of basic techniques, followed by 17 chapters of recipes. The basic techniques are user-friendly instructions for using the Vitamix’s variety of capabilities.
There is huge variety in the included recipes, and they look/sound fantastic! (Most of them also sound very easy — always a plus!) I honestly use my Vitamix primarily for smoothies, and don’t find most of the other recipes that were provided with my machine very appealing. (We tried their broccoli soup once. Liquefied broccoli was not our idea of appetizing.) These, on the other hand, inspire me to pull out my machine and try some other things.
The recipe categories are nut butters & cheeses; sauces; dressings, marinades & spice blends; dips & spreads; soups; burgers & loaves; fresh flours & baked goods; desserts; ice creams, sorbets, milkshakes & ice pops; truffles & energy balls; baby food; nondairy milks; smoothies; smoothie bowls & parfaits; whole juices & blends; blender cocktails; and even skin treatments, scrubs, masks & lotions!
Many of these recipes would be suitable for a variety of special diets, although not all of them would be suitable for any one special diet. The nut butters & cheeses chapter and the non-dairy milks chapter, in particular, would be especially helpful for those who are dairy-free. I’m not even sure how to articulate how broad the overall range of recipes is. There are basics like barbecue sauce. Easy “DIY” versions of usually-storebought basics such as cheddar cheese powder (like for topping popcorn). And more unusual/unique recipes like Thyme & Orange Salt & Pepper (spice blend).
You’ll find an Aquafaba mayonnaise for the egg-free. Chicken liver mousse for getting in your organ meat. Red dip and green dip for Christmastime (along with a rainbow of others). There are veggie burgers (several types) and a meat-based gyro. Yeast breads, flat breads, pancakes, and muffins, including a gluten-free sandwich bread (and tips for grinding the flour). Cakes, cupcakes, crepes, and puddings (some of these items are gluten-free, and some are vegan). And we’re only about halfway through the book.
There’s something here for almost everyone, and I love that it doesn’t over-emphasize any one ingredient. (It isn’t “heavy on soy” or “heavy on eggs” or anything else like that.)
The overall layout of this is much like the previous book, with black-and-white, no-fluff-formatted recipes, and periodic inserts of full-page, full-color images. The vivid colors of the fruits and vegetables used really comes through here, making even veggies I don’t like look yummy! (And the cinnamon-walnut butter looks pretty delicious, too.) The only downside I can see to this book is that if you don’t already have a Vitamix it might make you want one!
- 2 c. dried brown or red lentils, rinsed
- 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 c. water
- 3 Tbsp. natural cashew butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. grated gingerroot
- 1 tsp. curry powder
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- ground or freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring lentils, carrot, onion and water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes or until lentils are tender and liquid is mostly evaporated. Let cool.
- Transfer lentil mixture to extra-tall cup. Twist the extractor blade onto the cup to seal. Blend for 40 seconds or until smooth. Set aside.
- In the same saucepan (no need to wash it), melt cashew butter over medium-low heat. Add garlic, ginger, and curry powder and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add lentil mixture and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with nutmeg and cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Image credit: Colin Erricson
- Crust
- 6 pitted soft dates, preferably Medjool
- 2 cups raw almonds (500 mL)
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 tbsp agave nectar (15 mL)
- Filling
- 1 cup raw almonds (250 mL)
- 1 cup cacao powder (250 mL)
- 1 cup coconut cream (250 mL)
- ½ cup coconut oil (125 mL)
- ¼ cup light (fancy) molasses (60 mL)
- hard or semihard salted caramelchocolate candies (such as Werther’s Original), crushed (or substitute cacao nibs)
- Crust: Add dates, almonds, salt and agave nectar to the tall cup. Twist the extractor blade onto the cup to seal. Blend for 30 seconds or until crumbly and sticky. Divide dough into six equal pieces and press one piece into the bottom and halfway up the sides of each prepared muffin cup to form crusts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Wash and dry the tall cup.
- Filling: Add almonds, cacao powder, coconut cream, coconut oil and molasses to the tall cup. Twist the extractor blade onto the cup to seal. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Spoon mixture into crusts and, using the back of spoon, smooth tops. Garnish with crushed candies. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
- The tarts can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
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