A friend just got a shiny new blender for his birthday, and we’d like to blend stuff.
What are some of your favorite things to mix up? Bonus points for especially easy recipes.
For the record, we’re not looking for alcoholic beverages. We know plenty of those already.
My favorite salad dressing, a balsamic viniagrette that’s made in a snap and can be fine in the fridge for weeks:
1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
Approximately 3 cups olive oil
I have a 5 cup capacity blender, so that’s how my recipe is portioned out.
Pour in the vinegar, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Turn on blender. Add olive oil in a small stream while blender runs, stop when the viniagrette is thick and no longer has the whirl at the top, which should be between 2 to 3 cups. Bottle and store in the fridge.
Thyme viniagrette
1 1/2 cups seasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup fresh thyme, woody stems removed
2 tsp. each salt and pepper
Appx. 3 cups olive oil
Follow same directions as above.
Don’t forget smoothies! Mix portions of your favorite sorbet/frozen yogurt with fruit, juice and ice. My favorite is vanilla yogurt with pineapple chunks and orange juice. Yum.
Coffee plus ice cream and a lil’ ice makes a nice drink. Or just coffee, milk or cream, sugar (brown or maple sugar’s a nice touch), and ice.
You can also do some excellent stuff with avocados and a blender. If the weather’s warm, try:
4 Avocados, all blended up smoothly.
A lil’ bit of habanero sauce. Don’t get all happy with it - half a teaspoon’s plenty.
A couple cups of chicken stock.
Mix up real well, adjust the hot sauce to taste, and throw it in the fridge.
Chop up some green onions real fine.
When the soup is cold, dish it out, sprinkle the onions over the top, and spoon just a bit of heavy cream over it. Bonus points for cool swirly patterns with the cream.