Quick And Healthy Recipes That Put Your Blender To Good Use

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Turn your trusty blender into an ultra-fast, super-healthy around-the-clock meal-maker

No doubt you’ve mastered the art of making a smoothie: chuck stuff in a blender, blend it, drink it. But did you know that all this time you could also have been using that same everyday appliance to mix up fast, healthy chillis, soups, quiches, pancake batters, even ice cream? To bring you up to speed, we’ll show you how to create those very recipes for well-rounded, satisfying meals that are ready in minutes. Whether you’re running late in the morning or need food in a flash after work then, as Devo once sang, “You must whip it!”

Mexican Green Chicken Chilli

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(Image credit: Unknown)

Photography: William and Susan Brinson

Ingredients (Serves Five)

  • 2tsp olive oil
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • ½tsp salt
  • 2 poblano or other peppers, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 250ml chicken broth or stock
  • 8 canned tomatillos (green tomatoes)
  • 2x400g cans haricot beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, deseeded
  • Chopped coriander to taste, plus more for garnish
  • 1tsp cumin powder
  • 2 large handfuls of sliced rotisserie chicken mea
  • 125g sour cream or plain yogurt
  • ½ an avocado
  • Juice of ½ a lime
  • 2tbsp pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds)

For unusual Mexican ingredients try mexgrocer.co.uk

To make

  1. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and salt and cook for three minutes. Add the poblano peppers and garlic and cook for three more minutes.
  2. Put the chicken broth, tomatillos, one can of beans, jalapeño, coriander and cumin in a blender and blend until nearly smooth but with a few chunks remaining. Add the mixture to the pan and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
  3. Stir in the chicken and the other can of beans and heat through. Add more broth if the chilli is too thick.
  4. Blend together the sour cream, avocado and lime juice with a pinch of salt until smooth. Serve the chilli topped with the avocado cream, pepitas and coriander.

Nutrition (per serving): 425 calories, 34g protein, 47g carbs, 13g fat

Swiss Chard Egg Pie

Ingredients (Serves Five)

  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 large egg whites 65ml milk
  • 4 large Swiss chard leaves, stems removed
  • ½tsp salt
  • ¼tsp black pepper
  • 100g grated Parmesan cheese
  • ½ jar sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1tbsp fresh chopped thyme
  • Jar of salsa

To make

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C/gas 6. Spray a round cake pan with cooking spray.
  2. Blend the eggs, egg whites, milk, chard, salt and pepper until the chard is pulverised. Pulse in the sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, garlic, thyme and three-quarters of the Parmesan.
  3. Pour the mixture into the pan, sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan, and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve with salsa.

Nutrition (per serving): 222 calories, 18g protein, 12g carbs, 12g fat

Chocolate Ricotta Oatmeal Pancakes

recipes

(Image credit: Unknown)

Ingredients (Serves Four)

  1. 250g light ricotta cheese
  2. 125ml milk
  3. 1 large egg
  4. 90g rolled oats
  5. 4tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  6. Zest of 1 orange
  7. 1tsp cinnamon
  8. 1tsp baking powder
  9. ½tsp baking soda
  10. ¼tsp salt
  11. 1tbsp butter or oil
  12. 225g strawberries
  13. 2tbsp maple syrup
  14. 2tsp fresh lemon juice

To make

  1. Place all ingredients except the butter, strawberries, maple syrup and lemon juice in a blender, and blend until smooth.
  2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add butter. Pour 4tbsp (60ml) of batter for each pancake and cook for two minutes. Flip and cook another minute. Set the oven to a low heat and use it to keep prepared pancakes warm.
  3. Blend together the strawberries, syrup and lemon juice until smooth. Warm in the microwave and serve with the pancakes.

Nutrition (per serving): 425 calories, 34g protein, 47g carbs, 13g fat

Blueberry Protein Ice Cream

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(Image credit: Unknown)

Ingredients (Serves One)

  • 65ml light coconut milk
  • 150g frozen blueberries
  • 1 scoop plain or vanilla protein powder
  • 1tsp honey
  • 1tsp lemon zest
  • A few drops of almond extract
  • 1tbsp coconut flakes (optional)
  • 1tbsp cacao nibs (optional)

To make

  1. Place a serving bowl in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before making ice cream – this will help prevent the mixture melting in the bowl.
  2. Place the coconut milk, blueberries, protein powder, honey, lemon zest and almond extract in a blender. Begin blending on low speed and work your way up to high speed until the mixture is creamy – or use the ice cream setting if your blender has one. If needed, add a small amount of additional coconut milk to help with blending.
  3. Place the mixture in the chilled serving bowl and top with coconut flakes and/or cacao nibs, if desired.

Nutrition (per serving): 260 calories, 28g protein, 27g carbs, 4g fat

Tomato Yogurt Soup

Ingredients (Serves Four)

  • 2x400g cans whole plum tomatoes
  • 250ml plain 2% yogurt
  • 250g canned haricot beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 roasted red pepper
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1tsp Italian seasoning
  • ½tsp salt
  • ¼tsp chipotle chilli powder
  • ¼tsp black pepper
  • 140g canned water-packed tuna, drained
  • 4tbsp pesto

To make

  1. Blend the tomatoes with their juice from the can along with the rest of the ingredients (except the tuna and pesto) for one minute.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and heat on medium until warmed. If you have a powerful blender you can also keep the machine running while puréeing the soup until it is steaming.
  3. Garnish with the tuna, pesto and black pepper. Serve with crusty bread, if you like.

Nutrition (per serving): 286 calories, 17g protein, 31g carbs, 10g fat

A version of this article first appeared in the US edition of Men’s Fitness

Matt Kadey