You may already have a blender in your kitchen or you could be thinking of buying a new one.
Maybe you are guilty of buying a blender on black Friday, in a brief fit of shopaholism, but now all you have done with it is store it away in some corner of a cabinet.
Worry you not, dear friend, we have combined for you a list of dishes that you can prepare with the blender you have made unsuccessful attempts to ignore!
But let’s start from basics, shall we?
What is a blender?
Simply speaking, a blender is an electric machine that helps to liquidize, puree, mix or chop food substances. It reduces human effort by manifolds and saves a lot of time too. There are two types of blender namely, countertop blender and hand blender.
A counter-top blender is the most regular kind of blender used in a kitchen. Simply speaking it has a base which is powered by a motor.
The motor has blades attached to it and the base works with switches that allow the user to change the blending speed as per the requirement.
On an average, any counter-top blender comes with either one or two detachable containers that allow the freshly pulverized liquid to be poured into another container with ease.
A hand blender is also called immersion/wand/stick blender.
It has an electric motor that turns the blades attached to a shaft. It is a handheld device that you can immerse inside a container which has the ingredients that you want to blend or mix. The device could either have an electric cord or use batteries.
15 great things you can make in your blender
Blenders help to make a variety of delicious delicacies without spending too much time to prepare them. Here are 15 great things that you can make using blenders!
1. Smooth like smoothies!
Counter Top Blenders and Hand Blenders are the perfect devices to help you make smoothies as they have the capacity to take on large chunks of fruits, vegetables and ice and blend them with a good consistency in texture.
You could try making smoothies for all the fussy kids in the house who just don’t want to have their greens! This could be the doorway to make sure that kids get all the required vitamins and minerals in their diet.
2. Some Hummus for your Pita!
You could try making your own version of hummus instead of buying it from the store.
Countertop Blenders and Hand Blenders work really well to pulverize beans, just add that tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and voila! Your homemade hummus is ready to compliment the pita bread!
3. Frozen mocktails
It’s easy to get really creative when you have a blender at your disposal.
All you need is some tequila, triple sec, Rose’s Lime, fresh strawberries with stems removed (or frozen strawberries), basil leaves, blend all these together and you have yourself a Strawberry Basil Margarita!
You can also try variants of this!
4. Let’s do some salsa!
You can quickly conjure up a puree-style bowl of salsa by tossing the ingredients in a bowl when guests arrive unexpectedly and accompany it with a bag of Nachos!
Keep the speed on low, so that you still have tiny pieces of tomatoes and chilly in the salsa. This will make the salsa chunky and it will hold on to the chip when you dip it in.
5. Serving Tomato and Chilli soup!
Warm the olive oil in a pan, then add the ingredients such as onion, celery, bean chilli and garlic. Cook this over a medium flame until the ingredients soften. After this add the tomatoes, water and stock. Bring the mix to a boil.
Lessen then heat and let it simmer for a while as you keep mixing every once in a while. Liquidize the soup in a blender or utilize a hand blender.
Blend all the ingredients of your soup in a bowl and you won’t even have to clean up a separate bowl later! Savour that hot and fresh goodness!
6. Whisk it up!
You can use the accessories provided with the countertop blender to whisk up the egg whites and make them frothy enough to add them into homemade meringues or omelettes.
Hand blenders work just fine as well and it’s actually easier to whisk the egg whites in a bowl directly.
7. Homemade Peanut Butter
A custom made nutty spread is a genuine treat, and you can make it in your own one of a kind blender! Include crisply toasted nuts and let the blender do its job till smooth paste forms.
Include a little salt and, if wanted, honey or different flavourings and turn the blender on again to mix well.
Make sure that your blender is strong enough to withstand the heavy duty blending requirements. A countertop blender with a higher wattage is recommended.
8. Some Sweet Sorbet
For a simple and snappy dessert, make your own particular sorbet in a blender, without an ice cream maker. You won’t require a great deal more than frozen fruit and sweetener to make the frozen treat.
This technique works best with a powerful blender, yet in the event that you’re utilising a typical low power blender, it will work.
At the point when the blender declines to mix manually mix the substances; work rapidly so that it doesn’t melt!
9. Traditional Falafel
Falafel is a delicacy from the middle-east that works well with hummus, pita bread and some fresh salad. They can be eaten hot or cold and are super easy to make with the leftover chickpeas.
Crush the chickpeas or purée coarsely in a blender. Blend with the cumin, coriander, garlic and bean chilli. Season the mix and divide it into equal parts to form small circular balls.
Warm a little oil in a frying pan and cook the patties approximately for 6 mins each till they turn golden-brown.
10. Guac-Guacamole
You no longer need to buy your guacamole from the store and this is why!
All you need is a firm yet squishy avocado, make sure it’s dark green in colour from the inside.
Remove the pit carefully, scoop out the pulp and toss it in a bowl, in case you are using a hand blender otherwise a countertop blender will work just fine.
Add lime juice, kosher salt, jalapeno, cilantro and red onion and you’re good to go! Blend it and there you have your homemade guac!
11. Healthy Pancakes!
This is the perfect breakfast for you if you are a health freak and are always on the go! All you need are 2 eggs and a ripe banana.
Slice the banana into smaller cylindrical pieces and toss them in the container of the countertop/hand blender.
Add the 2 eggs in the container and whisk the ingredients till you get a consistent texture. Pour the batter into a lightly heated pan.
12. Energy Bars
Here’s another healthy snack for you if your calorie conscious. All you need are pitted dates, peanut butter, dark chocolate, oats and chia seeds. These are high in fibre, healthy fats and protein.
Pulse the dates in the countertop blender until you see small pieces then add the rest of the ingredients and blended them together again. Roll the mix into 1-inch balls and hold them together with the warmth of your hand.
13. Banana Ice cream
This recipe will make you realise the importance of the brown bananas you’ve left on your kitchen counter. Just cut the bananas into smaller pieces and toss them into the blender container.
Put the container in the freezer till the pieces become frozen.
Blend the pieces to form a smooth and add some peanut butter to it and blend again. Dip in a spoon and take a bite into heaven-sent goodness.
14. Cake Batter
Hand blenders are the best appliances to use if you are looking at making cake in your kitchen. Not only do they reduce your efforts but also leave you with a bowl of consistent batter.
Just put your ingredients in the bowl and witness the magic!
15. Zucchini Bread
All you need is a cup vegetable oil, enough chopped zucchini to blend to 3 cups, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 cups of sugar, 3 and 1/2 cups white flour.
Toss the ingredients into the blender, mix them well and bake the mix.
Bottomline
A blender is an electric machine that helps to liquidize, puree, mix or chop food substances.
It reduces human effort by manifolds and saves a lot of time too. There are two types of blender namely, countertop blender and hand blender.
These blenders assist you to make a variety of things such as smoothies, hummus, frozen mocktails, zucchini bread, cake batter, meringues, omelettes, guacamole, salsa, falafel, ice cream, energy bars, pancakes, sorbets and even soup!
Hope this helped you to get some ideas to kick-start blending!