Reddit reviews 365 Vegan Smoothies: Boost Your Health With a Rainbow of Fruits and Veggies

Welcome to the best kitchen purchase you'll ever make! I got mine 5 years ago, and I still use it at least 3 times a week. I absolutely love it.

Smoothies are obviously amazing in the Vitamix. My mom has a Ninja, and I've made green smoothies with it and could never get it smooth enough. Green smoothies in the vitamix are completely smooth and creamy without any green bits to chew on afterwards. I bought vegan food blogger Kathy Patalsky's cookbook 365 Vegan Smoothies, and I've made about 50 recipes from it so far. All are unique and fun combinations I wouldn't think to try; definitely worth the investment if you're a smoothie fan! You can throw in whole fruits (with peel removed as required) and it saves you a lot of chopping.

Cashew-based creams and sauces blend instantly without any pre-soaking required. I make the cheese sauce recipe from Julie Hasson's cookbook Vegan Diner in the Vitamix; just throw all the ingredients in and blend for 7 minutes until you have a nice piping hot cheese sauce to smother all over cooked noodles.

I like to make easy hot soups in the Vitamix too. I think it's awesome to throw a bunch of veggies in and have a hot nutritious soup 7 minutes later when you're in a pinch, but I will say that there is a mild raw taste to it still. If you have time, it's much tastier to cook the veggies on the stovetop or roast in the oven first, and THEN transfer to the vitamix to make a smooth soup. The flavor profile is much more complex and tasty this way.

Steaming hot cocoa can be made in a Vitamix too. Throw in all the ingredients and let blend until piping hot. No need to dirty a pot. More instructions/inspiration here.

Once you make homemade almond milk in a Vitamix, you'll never be able to tolerate the store-bought stuff again. It's otherwordly. Oh She Glows has a great primer here. Make chai with fresh almond milk - it's the only thing I've found that is not just equal in taste to dairy chai, but actually much better.

Also: blender waffles. Toss in oats, bananas, and a liquid, and you have instant waffle batter.

You can make oat flour instantly with rolled oats in the standard Vitamix container. I personally have the dry container as well to make flours from sturdier sources like chickpea flour, corn flour, spelt flour, whole wheat flour, etc. I like to grind my own whole grain flours from the whole grains themselves, that way I can make the quantity I need without having 15 different bags of flour sitting around going rancid. Apparently the dry container can knead dough too, but I haven't tried it yet.

Sadly, I haven't tried making nut butters in it yet, as I'm afraid of how I'd scoop it all out of the container. That's my one major gripe with the design, it's not easy to get a thick recipe out out without losing a bunch of it at the bottom.

Obviously, banana soft serve is super easy to make in a Vitamix, particularly if you're making a larger quantity to feed a crowd (or your hungry self). I actually prefer to use my food processor for banana soft serve because it's easier to get out a smaller quantity.

Make sure you clean it IMMEDIATELY after using, clean-up is much quicker and better this way. It's harder to clean the bottom corners if it's left dirty for a while.

I'm sure you'll love your Vitamix as much as I love mine! Hope I didn't sound too much like an infomercial, I just love it so much. Happy blending!

Edited to add links.

Congrats! I hope everything goes amazingly for you!

I'd love to have this off the "For a healthier me" list! Thank you for the contest!

A whole new you

This on the "For a healthier me" list is drinking-related!

Really, on a Monday?

Thank you for the contest!