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I first learned about “blended salad” from Dr. Joel Fuhrman. If you don’t know who Dr. Fuhrman is, be sure to click the link! In my opinion, his book “Eat to Live” is one of the best books on nutrition. I love his “nutritarian” approach to health. It’s all about nutrient density.
A blended salad is basically another type of green smoothie. My morning green smoothie contains a lot of fruit. My evening blended salad contains mostly vegetables.
Here’s what I put in my blended salad last night (serves 2):
Parsley, spinach, zucchini, carrot, cucumber, apple, red pepper and lemon juice (frozen).
PREPARATION
These are tips for preparing lots of vegetables ahead of time. This cuts down on the amount of work involved. If it’s too much work, then you probably won’t make blended salads regularly. Not good!
1. Buy several bunches of parsley. Discard the thickest stems. (I don’t need that much fiber!) Rinse, spin dry, and freeze on parchment paper. Store in a freezer container.
2. Have dark leafy greens in your fridge at ALL times. Rotate through kale, spinach, chard, collards, etc. Rinse the leaves and remove the tough stem. Most of the time I throw the stem away, but sometimes I mince it up for soup.
3. Buy a large variety of vegetables and apples. Wash, chop (2″ pieces) and freeze most of it. Always save some of everything for the fridge. Don’t forget about tomatoes, celery, and avocado. Keep the tomatoes and avocado fresh.
4. Use a citrus reamer to juice a whole bunch of lemons at once. Freeze the juice in ice cube trays.
5. If you have a juicer, you can also juice some of the vegetables and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Using some vegetable juice instead of all whole veggies will cut down on some of the fiber (if getting too much fiber is an issue.) Save your carrot pulp for other uses (like these muffins).
5. Blend everything in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Add at least a cup of water per serving.
It’s interesting to read nutrition charts showing the percentage of protein, carbohydrate, and fat found in fruits and vegetables. People are surprised to learn that fruits contain protein and vegetables contain fat.
Please repeat after me:
ALL PLANTS CONTAIN PROTEIN.
PARSLEY: 27% protein, 57% carb, 16% fat
SPINACH: 39% protein, 49% carb, 12% fat
ZUCCHINI: 25% protein, 67% carb, 8% fat
CARROT: 8% protein, 87% carb, 5% fat
CUCUMBER: 19% protein, 69% carb, 12% fat
APPLE: 2% protein, 95% carb, 3% fat
RED PEPPER: 13% protein, 78% carb, 9% fat
LEMON: 7% protein, 90% carb, 3% fat
(Protein, carb, and fat percentages are from the book, “Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets,” by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. This is another excellent book on nutrition. You don’t need to be “raw” to read it.)
Happy blending!
I have 15 POUNDS of pinto beans in my house right now. I’ll have a steady supply of bean dip in my kitchen for the next several years.
Thanks, mom and dad!
My parents like to go on long road trips around the U.S. in their Airstream trailer.
When they were traveling through New Mexico, they bought me 5 pounds of beans from Akin Farms, in a town called Estancia. Check out the website: Just Pinto Beans.
When mom and dad were in Colorado, they bought me another 10 pounds of pintos from Adobe Milling, in the town of Dove Creek. Here’s my mom’s picture:
STEP 1: COOK THE BEANS
I like to cook 3 cups of beans at a time. 3 cups dry beans yields about 9 cups (4 1/2 pints) cooked beans.
For each batch of bean dip, set aside 2 cups (1 pint) cooked beans. I like to make a triple batch of dip at one time. I freeze the remaining beans in 1 cup wide mouth jars. Load up on those jars!
- Soak the beans in a large pot of water for at least 8 hours, then rinse.
- Cook the beans in a crock pot on high for 6-8 hours with some chili powder and chopped jalapeno, garlic and onion.
- If you don’t have a crock pot, simmer the beans on the stove for a couple hours. Here is a handy bean cooking reference.
STEP 2: ASSEMBLE INGREDIENTS
For this recipe, I used my hummus recipe as a template. For me, “hummus style” means using raw garlic, tahini and fresh-squeezed citrus.
For one batch of Pinto Bean Dip…
Use 2 cups pinto beans.
Prepare:
1-2 cloves garlic…minced
1 small wedge onion…chopped
1 lime…juiced
Set aside:
1 T tahini (sesame butter)
1 t nutritional yeast
Pinch of salt
1 t cumin (absent for the picture…oops!)
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t fajita or taco seasoning blend
1/8 t ground chipotle (very spicy!)
STEP 3: PUREE AND PORTION
Use a small food processor to puree all ingredients until smooth. Add a little water if needed to thin.
Portion the dip in 1/2 cup or 1 cup jars. A single batch will make a little more than 3 half cup servings. A triple batch yields 11 half cup servings. Refrigerate or freeze.
Freeheel Vegan 