All I can say right now is WOW. How did I ever live 23 years without a VitaMix???!!
I guess the same way I lived that long with only an electric handheld mixer from 1982. I am all for doing things in the kitchen the old fashioned way but DANG, modern conveniences sure are nice. This evening I concocted my first recipe in my brand new VitaMix 5200. I loosely based it on the Red Lentil Soup with Moroccan Spices found in the cookbook that came with the mixer (more on that later), however instead of going with the Moroccan theme, I omitted some ingredients and used my adored garam masala to give this creamy soup an Indian kick.
Here is my recipe du jour—
Creamy Red Lentil Soup
Serves 3-4
2 cups veggie broth
3 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
1/2 onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves
1 cup red lentils cooked in 2 cups water
2 tsp garam masala
dash cayenne
sea salt to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a pie dish, cover the garlic cloves with olive oil and roast for about 20 minutes or until the cloves are golden and fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before picking the cloves out of the oil. You can reserve this now garlic infused olive oil for another use.
2. Saute the onions in a little olive oil on medium/low heat or until translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In your VitaMix, combine all ingredients and mix on high (II)/speed 10 for about 3-4 minutes or until boiling and the mixture is very smooth. Carefully remove (the mixture will be HOT) and serve!
I also had a whole wheat wrap with about two tbsp roasted garlic hummus—
I was absolutely dumbfounded at just how SIMPLE this powerful machine is! I’m a simple girl and like simple, easy to use gadgets (still workin’ on figuring everything on my Blackberry out!) and using the VitaMix couldn’t be simpler. I did thoroughly read the directions and the little manual prior to use though and that helped. As with anything, I definitely recommend reading the directions first!!
My soup came out so incredibly creamy I was amazed that I made it and it didn’t come from some fancy restaurant. There were absolutely zero lumps of any sort in the soup and I was equally amazed at how the blender could actually cook the soup and make it boil! How cool! No longer do you have to make things in a blender then transfer to a saucepan to warm. The VitaMix does it all for you in less than 5 minutes!
I read that the mixing container could not go in the dishwasher and, I’ll admit, I groaned a little bit. Who wants to spend time hand washing anything?! Not this girl. But then I read on and saw that all you do to clean the VitaMix is add about a cup of warm water with a little dish soap into the mixer, press on and let it whirl around in there for a minute or so. Toss out the soapy water, rinse with warm water and voila! Clean! The entire cleaning process took about a minute and a half. Love it.
As for the cookbook that accompanied the mixer….I again can only say WOW. I was blown away again! I mean, I would pay money for this cookbook! Sometimes blenders and other kitchen gadgets come with cookbooks that are just downright awful and contain retro recipes from the 90s that no one ever would want to make again. Not this! This cookbook is a 250 page health food bible with healthy recipes (including all nutritional information) on everything from drinks and sauces to fondues and baked goods. The binder comes with handy dandy little dividers so you can easily look up a recipe in any category.
For dessert, I tried out the blender yet again to make the Banana Ice Cream recipe from the cookbook. This recipe is just bananas, milk (or Silk in my case), sweetener and ice. I used 2 tbsp of pure maple syrup as my sweetener and blended it all up for about 1 minute. The end result was just okay and that was really my own fault because my bananas weren’t ripe enough and I used too much ice. If you used brown spotty bananas instead of greenish ones (duh jenna) your ice cream would be much sweeter than mine. In any case, it was a nice little dessert when topped with a cookie 🙂
This afternoon I went grocery shopping!
And snacked on a cheese and a handful of soy crispies—
Now I’m all set to fold laundry then read and call it a night. Have a good one, yall!
Megan
December 29, 2008 at 6:38 pmI am going to be dreaming of having my own Vita-Mix tonight! It sure seems amazing. Yummy food you created with it!
VeggieGirl
December 29, 2008 at 6:49 pmSoup + ice cream + tons of amazing groceries = HELL YES!!
Mel
December 29, 2008 at 7:09 pmWow that soup looks so creamy! It really makes me want one now!
Shelby
December 29, 2008 at 7:15 pmI NEED A VITA-MIX!!! Uhh, too bad Christmas is over =(
Love the soup recipe, I might just make it without the blender!
K
December 29, 2008 at 7:37 pmGlad the VitaMix was a hit!! Your recipe sounds great 🙂
Wonderful grocery haul – LOVE those babybels!
Mara
December 29, 2008 at 8:58 pmMAN now I really REALLY want one!
Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food)
December 29, 2008 at 9:09 pmOh wow, I really want a Vita-Mix! It sounds so easy to use, and it’s great that it’s so simple to clean! Plus I love how it comes with a recipe binder, and that it includes the nutrition information!
Cara
December 29, 2008 at 9:53 pmHoly moly that looks AMAZING!! I want one NOW. haha.
Caroline
December 30, 2008 at 12:04 amWow! I am so jealous of your VitaMix. It would be so handy for my nightly smoothies:) I look forward to your future concoctions!
Jen (Running with Food)
December 30, 2008 at 7:56 amSounds like you are making the most out of your new Vita Mix! It’s a fabulous tool. Gotta love it.
healthy ashley
December 30, 2008 at 9:02 amI’ll have to admit that I really want a VitaMix now! I didn’t know the blender could actually heat foods, too! Are you working at the Greenwise yet? I went in there the otehr day and would loveto see you there!
Scott
December 30, 2008 at 10:37 amI am so jealous of your VitaMix acquisition! I’ve been wanting one for years!!
S
March 13, 2009 at 2:10 pmHi,
Can you tell me about the noise level of your vitamix? I’ve read that they are very, very loud.
Thanks for your help.
Georgia
August 4, 2009 at 3:51 amHow does anyone live without a Vitamix? It’s hard to remember life before having a Vitamix.
Noise? They are loud compared to your general kitchen blender but not as loud as some other blenders out there.
There is a great review of the blender here as well:
http://gotgreensrevolution.com/Vitamix-versus-blendtec-review.html
Veronica Sawyer
September 29, 2010 at 7:46 pmHi everyone, I’m new to this forum! I got my Vitamix 5200 last year from Costco and I am blown away by how incredible it is. I use it just about every day now. I can’t believe I can make my own ice cream and almond milk! The vegetable cocktails are amazing. I’m developing a product that has to do with Vitamix. Send me any question you have related to the Vitamix blender via this link: http://vitamix5200.org/question
and I’ll send you a free copy of the product when it is finished. I want to make sure I answer everyone’s questions! Really excited to hear your responses.