blendtec recipe Archives - My Inner Shakti

The Non-Juicer Whole Juice

Juicing is the new “it” thing to do. I’m convinced because the word juice is everywhere I look – articles, blog posts, grocery stores, Starbucks, etc.

To be honest, I am not 100% sold on the idea. IF it’s the only way you can manage to get your daily dose of fruits and veggies, then fine. Do what you have to do. However, when you eat the whole fruit (skin, fiber, etc.), there are so many added benefits, with satiety and additional nutrients being two big ones.

I won’t deny that juice tastes good…really good! If I could afford to visit Whole Foods a few times a week for their delicious juices, I would do it. And if we lived in a larger apartment with more storage, I would’ve happily taken my in-laws’ juicer off their hands when my MIL offered to give it to me.

With that being said, I have found a (new to me) way to enjoy fresh juice at home. Juice that tastes delicious, is filling, and incorporates the whole fruit. I call it the “non-juicer whole juice.”

Since this was my first time making juice, I decided to go with the fruit only variety. I pretty much grabbed all the fruit we had on hand. Next time, I’m going to be a little more adventurous and incorporate carrots, ginger, and maybe some celery. The options are endless!

I’ll be the first to admit that I went a little bit overboard with my fruit selection. What can I say?! I was excited!

Note: While I didn’t use a juicer to make this, I did use my Blendtec, a high-power blender. The Blendtec has a digital interface with one of the options being “whole juice.” I’m honestly not sure how this would fare with more traditional blenders. However, it seems that many major brands are coming out with affordable high-performance blenders, so it may be worth a try if you own one of those.

Non-Juicer Whole Juice
Yields approximately 48 ounces of juice

1/3 cup blueberries
5-6 large strawberries
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and coarsely chopped with skin on
1 peach, coarsely chopped with skin on
1 orange, peeled
3-4 cups of ice cubes

Add all ingredients to the blender, with the ice cubes being last. Blend using the “whole juice” option. Pour and enjoy!

This juice was fairly thick, not too sweet/a little tart, and super filling. Vishnu suggested that next time I stick to 2-3 fruits versus 5. Honestly, I’m not sure what I would change – use half of the apple, add a banana and/or pineapple for added sweetness, add veggies…we’ll see! I can see myself having a lot of fun with this! The blender is like an open canvas – create what you will!

Are you a juice lover? What’s your favorite combo?

Butternut Squash Sauce

written by Parita 6 Comments

You know what I love? I love squash, all kinds of squash – butternut, acorn, zucchini, yellow straightneck, etc. I love to roast, puree, and pan fry squash. I like to use squash in soups, salads, entrees, and even dessert. Hands down this is one of the most versatile vegetables there is. Love it!

A few months ago, I came across a recipe for butternut squash mac n’ cheese. For some dumb reason, I never actually made the dish. I just thought about it a lot. Food is always on my mind. Then about two weeks ago, I decided to get creative in the kitchen. All I knew was that whatever I made had to include butternut squash and kale. Those two things had been sitting in the fridge for over a week, and like I’ve mentioned before, we do NOT like to waste food. So using the recipe I saw in passing as my inspiration, I decided to make lasagna with a kale filling and a butternut squash sauce.

After a quick Google search on “butternut squash sauce,” I came across this recipe by Ashley at Edible Perspective. I scanned the ingredient list and got to work. Now if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that my propensity to do everything quickly gets me in trouble sometimes. Luckily, that wasn’t the case this time around. Despite the fact that I looked at the recipe for all of 10 seconds, the sauce came out great. Phew! The not so great thing was that I because I modified the original recipe a bit and didn’t measure or write anything out, I had nothing but a picture on Instagram to show for it. Sorry about that!

No worries though because I’m about to more than make up for it. I recreated the butternut squash sauce, and this time it was even better than take one.

Same scenario – an “almost too old to eat” butternut squash and a package of mushrooms led to a unique meal on Tuesday night.

I present to you…mushroom and onion quinoa with a creamy butternut squash sauce.

This simple dish was so flavorful and full of texture – a little meaty from mushrooms, chewy from the quinoa, and sweet and spicy from the sauce. It makes for great leftovers as well.

All I did to prepare the vegetables was sauté them in a little bit of olive oil with some chopped garlic, salt, and black pepper. After the quinoa was done cooking, I mixed it in with the veggies. When we were ready to eat, I portioned out the quinoa and topped it off with lots of sauce. Simple yet incredibly delicious!

Butternut Squash Sauce
Adapted from this recipe

1 medium butternut squash
1 cup vegetable broth
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
1/2 small sweet onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 roasted red pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon Indian chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Peel and cube the butternut squash (tip: use a spoon to scoop out the seeds). Add squash to boiling water. Cook until tender – about 25-30 minutes. Drain the squash and allow to cool. Add the rest of the ingredients to a high-powered blender adding the squash last. Blend until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Oh butternut squash, how I love thee!

What’s your favorite vegetable AND what’s your favorite way to eat it?

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

written by Parita 18 Comments

I’m not sure what I was more excited about after receiving my Blendtec over Christmas…the blender or the recipe book that came with it. Honestly, it’s still a toss up! While the blender is pretty amazing, the recipe book includes tons of delicious, easy to make meals. I mean, what’s a blender without recipes, right?

Anyway, the other day I used my blender as a meal planning tool. Before going grocery shopping, I bookmarked a few recipes to try out this week and stocked up on all the necessary ingredients. And while I want to make everything in this new Blendtec recipe book, I decided to try out the Butternut Squash Soup first. Lucky for us, there were plenty of butternut squashes to choose from at the farmer’s market.

Now, many of you may be thinking, “the first thing she decides to make is soup?” Well, yes…for many reasons. First, the recipe doesn’t call for weird ingredients that will only be used once (I hate that). Second, aside from roasting the squash, prep work was minimal. And finally, it sounded like it would pair really well with our favorite rosemary bread. Win – win – win!

So y’all, make this soup. Please. You don’t need a powerful blender. I could’ve easily made this using the Ninja or even an immersion blender (I think).

Bottom line – this soup is delicious and makes for the perfect rainy night meal. It’s everything you could ever want – smooth, creamy, and fresh. Even Vishnu, who isn’t really a soup kind of guy, said it was delicious (more than once). Win! And for those of you who don’t live in Florida, this is the perfect winter soup…it will warm your soul!

Let me know if you try it out.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup
Adapted from the Blendtec Fresh Blends recipe book

1 large butternut squash
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
2 medium sweet onions
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 pinches of the following: dried parsley, dried oregano, and dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups water
4 (14 oz) cans vegetable broth
feta cheese crumbles for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, piece skin with fork, and remove seeds. Place cut side down in a pan. Fill pan with 1/4 cup water. Bake for 45 minutes.

While squash is baking, heat olive oil in a large pot. Sauté carrots, onions and garlic for a few minutes and then add dried herbs, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook until the onion is translucent. Allow to cool for a a few minutes. Blend together water and cooked vegetable mixture (if using Blendtec select “Batters”). Add pureed mixture back to pot and add two cans of stock. Bring heat to low and allow to simmer. Once cooked and slightly cooled, scoop out flesh of squash. Blend flesh and the other two cans of stock (if using Blendtec select “Soup” and blend for 40 seconds). Pour into large pot, stir, and simmer for a few minutes. Garnish individual bowls with a sprinkle of feta cheese prior to serving.