Making Healthy “Fast Food” is Easy with a Blender and The Blender Girl Cookbook
“Blender recipes” are my go-to for when I need something quick and easy. Our Clean Cuisine Superfood Cookbook (just $2.99 on Amazon!) is filled to the brim all with recipes you can make right in a high-speed blender. Of course since it is my own cookbook, I tend to use it quite a bit to make all sorts of smoothies, soups, dips, sauces, etc. Because I have been working so hard on the new website and because summer sort of makes me want to simplify my cooking, the blender recipes have been a big help for whipping up easy “fast food” these past few weeks.
I was just thinking how it would be great to have another quick and easy blender cookbook, but of course I certainly do not have the free time to create another one at this moment. So, I was thrilled to discover “The Blender Girl” (Tess Masters) and her collection of super-easy, super-fast recipes. “The Blender Girl” cookbook features 100 gluten-free, plant-based recipes including smoothies, shakes, appetizers, snacks, dips, entrees, desserts, tonics, condiments and more. I am especially loving her “Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake” smoothie and I am certain the “Antioxidant Avenger” with the maqui powder has helped combat the inevitable oxidative stress caused by this whole website redo!
Maqui Powder & Other Superfood “Boosters”
Throughout the book, The Blender Girl has recipes featuring superfoods like the maqui powder, but it is not absolutely necessary to use the superfood “boosters” in order to make the recipes turn out. The book is a great resource for learning about some new superfoods you might not be too familiar with, how to use them and of course for discovering delicious new recipes too!
So What Exactly is Maqui Powder?
This pretty purple powder is one of the most antioxidant-rich foods on the earth (right up there with acai and gogi berries) and is made from dried maqui berries that grow in the Chilean Andes. Maqui berries/ powder are an excellent source of vitamin C, iron, potassium and super phytonutrients such as anthocyanins (found in blue-purple foods like blueberries and blackberries) and polyphenols (found in tea, spices and vegetables.) The Blender Girl incorporates maqui powder and other superfoods such as gogi berries, camu berries, acai, pomegranate, cacao, maca, hemp seeds, spirulina and more as optional “boosters” that you can incorporate into your recipes for added “super power” benefits.
Although these superfoods can seem expensive, keep in mind that a little goes a very long way! It takes only a small amount—maybe a tablespoon or so—of a superfood booster added to a recipe (or even mixed into a bowl of oatmeal) to really reap significant nutritional enhancement.
Even if you don’t pick up a copy of The Blender Girl I think it’s a good idea to experiment with superfood boosters. Try buying just one and add just a tablespoon or so to your next smoothie. The vast majority of superfood boosters do not change the flavor (just the color) of the recipe in any meaningful way (Note: the exception is the cacao powder, using this will definitely add a distinctive chocolaty note to your recipes, which is certainly not a bad thing in my book!)
Navitas Naturals—Your One Stop Shop for Superfood “Boosters” such as Maqui Powder
Navitas Naturals is my favorite resource for many of the exotic superfoods featured in “The Blender Girl” cookbook. You can purchase Navitas Naturals at your local health food store or online at the Navitas Naturals at their Amazon store.
Stephanie
Sunday 1st of March 2015
Our blender at home is becoming our health food maker. I use it for my smoothies, my hubby use it for his protein shakes.