The past few weeks, I’ve been partnering with Williams Sonoma to teach some of their cooking classes – it’s been so fabulous, we’ve decided to continue through the holiday season! It’s been an awesome opportunity for me to try out some new techniques and fancy equipment (a pressure cooker that doubles as a slow cooker is now on my “want” list!)…also including this Sunday’s class feature…THE VITAMIX. And not just any model…the 750 Pro series. This baby makes hot soups, chops fruits and veggies, grinds flours, whips nut butters, and purees so smooth it feels like food is melting in your mouth. It is 40% quieter than the last model. Easy to use, easy to clean…and retails for the bargain price of $750.
Whoa.
That is in fact more than I paid for this very laptop I am blogging from. So you can imagine how pumped I am to get to use this at home for the week to give it a whirl (ha) to prep for the class, for FREE!
Let me rewind a step, before the recipe. Yesterday I was feeling very antsy…I sat in a 2 hour meeting that was supposed to be one hour…I got locked out of my online Verizon account and had to endure an infuriating process to get access…I argued with my mom…I nearly burst into tears…I may have been dehydrated?…whatever it was, something was telling me I needed to move and sweat. I usually do an intense yoga class on Tuesday evenings, but my instructors at Kali (which, by the way, if you live near CoHi and haven’t been yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!) always reinforce that you should listen to your body and do what feels right. And at about 4pm, I realized I couldn’t wait, and also needed something a little more aggressive than yoga to get out whatever needed to go – I needed Chalene. After the longest workout TurboFire has to offer, full of lots of punching, kicking, and jumping, I felt 120% better…and after I had a green smoothie in the Vitamix, I literally heard birds chirping. (Outside my house, not in my head. They were that happy for me.)
This smoothie knocks out at least 3 servings of fruit and vegetables, 1 dairy, and has an ounce of nuts. Because why not add nuts, when the Vitamix will pulverize anything it can get its blades on? And if you’re not adding a leafy green to every smoothie you make, you’re missing out on a perfect opportunity to drink your way healthier…ESPECIALLY if you don’t like leafy greens! My latest addition is celery…I don’t love the texture of raw celery; the strings just annoy me. But in smoothies it adds a crisp light green flavor (and let’s be real, those strings don’t stand a chance in that blender).
Peachy Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 c milk
- 1/2 c coconut water (could add more or not at all; I just had a box to use up!)
- 1 giant handful raw spinach
- 1 c raw celery
- 1 peach
- 1 oz almonds
- 1 small banana
Directions:
Blend. Ideally in a Vitamix 750 Pro.
Do you want to see this in action? YEAH YOU DO:
[wpvideo wWGdMsNT]
I’m confused about the recent articles suggesting that “whole fruit” rather than “juice” is the more healthful option. Where does the Viitamix fit into this?
Great question…the Vitamix can only blend, it cannot remove the juice from the pulp the way a juicer does. When you juice, you’re removing the pulp and therefore the valuable fiber, which is critical for gut health and helps you to feel full and satisfied. For that reason, I prefer to blend. Juicing fruits and vegetables is a great way to get lots of vitamins and minerals, and as long as the sugar (and therefore fruit) content isn’t too high, it can be part of a healthy diet.
Thanks. Very helpful explanation.