Recipe Rehab: 5 Best Healing Summer Blender Recipes
Summer eating has its own delights: digging in alfresco…grilling…and partaking of the bounty of the garden and farmer's market. It's a time when the blender is pressed into heavy rotation, to make tasty dip, yummy chilled soup, an ice-flecked smoothie, tempting party pate, frozen yogurt, or no-bake refrigerator pie.
Summer is also an easy season to pack on unwanted pounds, given all of the extra socializing, frolicking in the sun and surf, and picnicking. But do not fear: MyHealingKitchen is here with rehabbed recipes for your favorite pureed treats. We've created these recipes in our test kitchen, with our top-of-the-line VitaMix blender.
Whether you're dining at home or signed up to bring a dish to a potluck or cookout, rely on the following to deliver healthful, healing benefits without sacrificing a drop of delicious.
Take a Dip
Ahhh… crowd-pleasing onion dip. At its worst, it's loaded with refined sodium, preservatives, sour cream, and oil-and barely graced with a smidge of the delicious healing veggies that nurture your bod. But our rehabbed recipe for Caramelized Onion Dip with Sweet Potato Chips has a low glycemic index and is loaded with fiber. Want to pump up the veggie volume? Add some spinach and artichoke hearts to the (Vita)Mix.
Thanks to onions' abundance of vitamins and minerals, they can help lower blood sugar, lower your risk of heart attack and help raise HDL -- the good cholesterol. With all this terrific food value, you'll feel better and have more energy to burn calories.
All Souped Up
Chilled soups are a summer mainstay -- but the creamy ones, like vichysoisse, can be overly rich. Gazpacho is an excellent way to utilize your summer garden bounty, and our recipe, containing edamame, is extra-healing, zing-y, and refreshing.
This satisfying meal is teeming with vitamins, antioxidants and deliciousness. Edamame provides 11 grams of protein per half cup, and has all 9 of the amino acids that the body can't produce on its own.
This gazpacho is even better the next day. Add detoxing cilantro or antioxidant-rich carrot, celery or roasted peppers.
Pate On, Dudes!
Pate is a sophisticated party offering, but unless you're shelling out for the pricey stuff, you're most likely spreading around a nasty dollop of BHA/BHT, processed sodium, and even MSG along with the iron-rich mixture's benefits. Our Anchovy Pate with White Bean Tomato Relish is chock-full of anti-inflammatory omega-3s, fiber and protein, and pairs well with nutty sprouted Ezekiel bread toast points -- and will net you oohs and ahs along with the prize for the Most Elegant Buffet Contribution.
Smoothie Sailing
Is that delicious cup of slushy liquid in your hand a healing beverage, or the sugary, pureed version of a Double Down? Eliminate the question mark by making yourself a chill-tastic Tangerine Green Tea Smoothie. Antioxidant-rich green tea, probiotic-populated yogurt, and Vitamin-C packed citrus quench your thirst and support your health.
Cold Stone Foxy
Ice cream and fro-yo are to summer as gingerbread and egg nog are to winter. That is to say, temptation awaits at every turn. But don't let the miserable taste of deprivation sour your hot summer nights. Latch on to our probiotic-rich Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Blueberry Swirl and antioxidant-packed Blackberry Blueberry Sorbet with Ginger and Mango. What about an ice cream maker? You're the ice cream maker -- spread the mixture on a baking sheet, freeze, break it up, and enjoy it.
Conclusion:
Remember that your blender is a main tool in your summertime arsenal of healthful eating -- and that you can happily opt out of summer junk food mainstays... knowing that the alternatives are far more sustaining and satisfying.
