Blender Recipes

When going through and asking our Tundrites what their favorite piece of kitchen equipment is, they have answers that range from knives to cast iron skillets to bottle openers (yes, someone actually said that a bottle opener was their favorite), but it rarely fails when asking them what the first item they bought was when they started here: a blender.

Some favor the Vitamix, while others are loyal to Blendtec or Waring, but they will all vouch for the incredible-ness that is the commercial blender.  When a blender this powerful can promise to crush, blend, and obliterate almost anything you put in it, you’ve got more than just a household blender – you’ve got a machine capable of doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the cooking process.

Forget smoothies, we’re talking about full-fledged recipes that can be whipped up in a blender in no time.  Want proof?  Here are some of our favorite blender recipes.

Blender-tastic Salsa

Because salsa is so easy to make and the ingredients are easily found in almost every kitchen, there’s no reason not to blend up a quick batch when you’re craving salsa.

Ingredients

1 14 ½ ounce can of tomatoes with green chilies
1 14 ½ ounce can of whole canned tomatoes (with juice)
1 medium jalapeno (quartered)
¼ cup yellow onion (quartered)
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon sugar

Blend It!

1. Place all of the ingredients into the blender.
2. Depending on how smooth or chunky you want your salsa, either hit the puree buttons a couple of times to give the ingredients a nice chop or turn the blender on for about a minute to make the ingredients come out smoother.
3. Pour the salsa in a covered container and refrigerate for 2 hours.  This allows the flavors to blend and gives the salsa its full flavor potential.  If you think you need to add more salt or a dash of spice, this is when you’d start adjusting ingredients.

Blended Gazpacho

A blender is perfect for pureeing hot soups– and immersion blenders make this task much easier – but to stick with the theme of making a meal in a blender, let’s stick with cold soups.  Gazpacho is famously known as a chunky soup, but this recipe purees the soup to creamy perfection – perfect for those of you that aren’t fans of chunks of tomatoes in your soup.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes (peeled, deseeded, quartered)
1 cucumber (deseeded, chopped into chunks)
1 red bell pepper (seeded, quartered)
1 jalapeno (seeded, quartered)
3 garlic cloves (peeled)
½ red onion (quartered)
2 slices of wheat bread (broken up into smaller chunks)
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons of sherry
Salt and white pepper to taste

Blend It!

1. Place all ingredients in the blender.
2. Start blender on low as the larger chunks are slowly broken up, then continue to chop on a higher speed for roughly 3 minutes.
3. When done, taste to see if more salt or pepper need to be added.
4. Chill soup in fridge for a couple of hours.  Taste again before serving.  Top with croutons for an added crunch.

Blender-Style Basil & Walnut Pesto

Yes, you’ll have to make the noodles on the stove, but everything else gets thrown right in the blender!  For 2 cups of pesto, use the directions below.

Ingredients

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic (peeled)
½ cup walnuts
4 cups fresh basil leaves
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt

Blend It!

1. Place all of the ingredients into the blender.
2. Start the blender on low so that the big chunks get chopped up, then slowly increase the speed.  Blend for about 1 minute or until the pesto is at the consistency you like.
3. Serve on top of noodles.

Do you have any adventurous blender recipes?