In the UK white, black and red Vitamix are available through Amazon. They also have Blendtec models now. Should you live in the USA, Amazon.com stock quite a few, well priced products

We also have a Tribest personal blender which is very impressive for a small machine in both strength and durability, and much smaller price! It's containers are great too.

Well - anything goes here, but weve got into a smoothie for breakfast routine and this is how we do them :) Banana and mango base and then add what you've got to hand.

Ingredients

1 mango

1 ripe banana

a cupful of pineapple juice (makes it sweet)

any combination of the following: berries such as strawberries, rasps, ripe gooseberries, currants, blueberries... ; kiwis, peeled; superfoods can be added such as a handful of goji berries (try growing your own, it's cheaper!), apricot kernals, spirulina (add too much an nobody will drink it), silver... ; apples, pears, plums, apricots... you get the very mixed picture ;)

water to cover - the more you add the thinner it will be

Chuck it all in the blender, cover with water and blend until as smooth as you like :) Another less healthy and maybe not for breafast smoothie is banana, cocoa, soya milk with a dash of vanilla.

and a real superfood zinger for four (or one greedy!) is a whole box of Grove Organic Orange Juice, handful of raw chocolate nibs, small handful gojis, teaspoon of suma, one avocado, 3 bananas, teaspoon spirulina powder and/or barleygrass powder, tablespoon of flax seeds (no need to pre-grind with the vitamix)... sheer bliss!

Pictured on the right are a banana-mango-strawberry-goji-silver-apricot kernal lovely and a green smoothie as above but with some fresh greens from the garden (cabbage/parsley/broccolli/spinach... all good in this). Solar light obtained from ethical superstore (casts little stars on the table at night).

A quick gardening tip: when washing up don't pour your smoothie jug rinsings down the sink - the vitamix gets it all so fine, that with plain water added to the residue (obviously don't add detergent at this point!!), it makes amazing plant food. From houseplants to tomatoes and veg - weve seen amazing results. Only use if all ingredients are raw - not if doing things with with soya milk for example as this may go mouldy in the pots/ground.

 

 

 

Ingredients (quantities are approximate - there is room for variations):

1 block of silken tofu (around 400g)

2 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for chocolate version: 1 bar (about 100g or so) of good quality vegan chocolate, melted

for strawberry type: 1 punnet of strawberries - reserve some for garnish

 

For the strawberry one you just whizz it all up in a blender until smooth, pour into bowls and chill in the fridge - garnish if you like. For the chocolate whizz the tofu, sugar and vanilla up and then beat in the melted chocolate. This is quite thick and soft prior to chilling and really firms up a lot after so go with what you like :)

The chocolate mousse also works very well as a topping for a no-cook tofu cheesecake - here with a ginger biscuit base (Co-op ginger nuts), chilled for a while before cutting and garnished with redcurrants and a sprig of mint:

Printable version

Ingredients:

3 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 small onion also roughly chopped

1 clove of garlic

2 teaspoons of sugar

2 heaped tablespoons of tomato puree

3 tablespoons of vinegar (apple cider best)

a little salt to taste

herbs make a very nice addition - to the pictured one we added a small bunch of fresh dill

Now it's very complicated so pay attention! Whizz it all up in the blender :)

Printable version

Printable version

 Hummus or Houmous

Printable version 

 Butterbean, Sage and Lemon Pate

Printable version 

Guacamole

We have added a few bits and pieces to traditional guacamole - fantastic as a dip, sandwich filling or served on portabello mushrooms garnished with cucumber like here.

 

Printable version  

Printable version

 

Butternut Soup

Printable version

This is a recipe that we almost always have at Halloween - we scrape out as much pumpkin flesh as we can before making the lantern!

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped

A little vegetable oil or vegan margarine

The flesh of 1 pumpkin

3 to 4 cups of soya milk

seasalt to taste

freshly ground black or mixed pepper to taste (we like lots)

Fry the onion in the oil or margarine for a few minutes until soft then add the pumpkin and salt and cook for a further few minutes. Add the soya milk and bring to the boil - reduce heat and simmer gently until the pumpkin flesh is soft. Place the soup in a liquidiser and blend until smooth and frothy. Add the pepper - we find it a good idea to let everyone add their own.

Pictured below is a soya free variant using water instead of soya then chucking in a handful of macadamia nuts before blending - scrummy, served here with runner beans from the garden. As the pumpkins in this one were from the garden and so fresh we didn't even need to peel them.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of sunflower oil

1 leek, chopped

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 red chilli chopped (optional)

4 or 5 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of flour (I used a doves farm gluten free one)

a few good handfuls of fresh spinach

2 cups of soya milk

water to cover ingredients (the more you add the thinner soup will be - I used about a cupful)

salt to taste

a little white wine (optional)

Fry the leek, garlic and chilli, if using, in the oil for a few minutes. Add the celery and cook for another few minutes until starting to soften. Add the flour and mix well, then throw in the spinach and mix round. Add the soya milk, water, salt and wine, if using. Stirring continuously, bring to a simmer then switch off and remove from heat. Cover and leave for a few minutes (gives you time to set table etc.). Blend until smooth in a food processor or with a hand blender. Yum :)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of sunflower oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

about 8 large to medium carrots, scraped and cut up into chunks

1 tin of cooked butter beans (large limas), about 400g

2 pints/4 cups/1200ml of water approx

a little seasalt as desired

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for a few minutes and then add the carrot and stir well. Add water and bring to the boil - turn down to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until the carrot is cooked through. Add the beans and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until they are properly heated through. Season and liquidise - was nice left a little rough but you might prefer to keep going until smooth.

Ingredients:

1 tabespoon of olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon of curry powder

6 medium carrots, roughly chopped

4 large sticks of celery, cut into pieces

2 pints/4 cups/1200ml of water

seasalt to taste

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for a few minutes and then add the curry powder and stir to release the flavours. Add the carrots, celery and water and cook gently until the vegetables are tender. Whizz up in a liquidiser/blender until smooth and add salt.

A little olive oil

1 onion

2 or 3 cloves of garlic (optional)

2 or 3 large sweet potatoes (the pink fleshed variety), peeled and roughly chopped

1 tin of tomatoes (approx. 400g/12oz)

Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil for a few moments. Add the sweet potatoes and tomatoes and simmer until the potatoes are just tender. Add the salt and pepper and liquidise until smooth.

My family loves this soup with some whole-wheat pasta and fresh herbs on top, but you could also use rice or just have it on it's own with some bread.

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small avocados

I tin of tomatoes

A good handful of fresh lovage

Parsley to taste

1 stick of celery

small amount of seasalt

1 cup of apple juice

1 cup of water

Place all the above in a blender and liquidise until smooth. Can be served chilled.