Kitchen Review- The Blend- Tec

Even though I am super busy with Vegan MOFO (day 10!) I've had time to reflect a lot lately.  Maybe its the fact that my kitchen needs constant cleaning because I've been cooking every day or maybe its the never ending pile of dishes.  I'm not sure.  What I am sure about is that I couldn't do alot of what I do in the kitchen without my Blend-Tec.

I've owned alot of hand-me-down blenders in my day.  Most of them were freebies, all of them broke within a year and never worked well at all.  At one point I was a raw vegan (no cooked food or animal products) and a blender was a vital kitchen appliance.  Even though Im back to just being vegan now I still use this blender almost daily.  Let me give you some examples:

Easiest Ever Ice Cream

Chilled Cantelope Soup

Mango Raspberry Smoothie

Tropical Lust Smoothie

Vanilla Chai Pear Butter

I made all those things and more with a blender.  Now on to other important matters.  I would say some pro's of this blender is that it will blend everything you may ever need to blend while cooking and it will do an amazing job at it. It's also really easy to clean and easy to use a spatula in order to scrape out whatever it is you blended.  The wider base makes it more effective at blending thicker things like filling for a cheesecake (its the only way I make cheesecake filling now because its so fast!), or nut butters.  I've blended ice, and even frozen bananas (for my ice cream) with ease.  I have yet to be disappointed with this blenders performance.  The biggest thing for me is that the base is really easy to clean, just wipe down with a sponge or paper towel.  It has a digital screen and flat buttons that make it a breeze to clean up.

I would say the only real con to this blender is the noise.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen a blender this powerful that wasn't noisy.  Some claim the Vitamix brand is less noisy but I call b.s. on that.  All I can say is that I'm so happy with how well it works that I can forgive the noise.  It's so nice to have smoothies without berry seeds in them (the blender grinds them up) or random chunks of ice.  I can even make a quick soup in minutes.  The convenience of this appliance is a huge benefit.

Well enough about the blender.  If you're in the market you would love the Blend Tec, worth every penny.  Now I have to get back in the kitchen and clean because tonight we are getting started on making hard cider! I'll post all about it tomorrow!

One final thought: What do you use your blender for? I'm looking for new ideas!

Chilled Cantaloupe Soup

Each and every summer time just gets away from me.  I know its been unforgivably long since my last post and for that I am truly sorry.  It must have been terrible going without awesome vegan food. :P

Things have gotten pleasantly busy over the last month.  Fortunately I have had some spare time to cook delicious vegan things which I will attempt to share with you as often as possible as we reach towards the end of summer.  I made this soup during a particularly hot week and it was incredibly refreshing.   This can be served in a traditional bowl, or in shot glasses as "shooters" which is a good appetizer.  I personally just like how easy it is and how people seemed to be impressed and curious about it at the same time. 

Chilled Cantaloupe Soup:
2 small cantaloupes, peeled, cut in chunks
1 t. dried tarragon flakes
Juice of two large limes
1/3 C Fresh cilantro, packed
2 small shallots
1 t salt, or to taste

1. Sweat the shallots making sure to not let them brown at all.
2. Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth.
3. Refrigerate a few hours to overnight to allow the flavors to mingle. Taste and adjust spices/lime to your liking. Serve chilled.

Notes: DO NOT use onion in place of the shallots, the soup comes out tasting like vomit Also feel free to be generous with the lime and cilantro. Enjoy!

 Here is the photo I promised of the banana ice cream! Mine is topped with chocolate chips and blueberries but there are many many toppings that are delicious!