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An immersion blender, also called a hand or stick blender, is the small, versatile and fast kitchen tool that every kitchen should have. This compact hand tool will take up almost no space in your kitchen. It is small and will fit almost anywhere which makes it ideal if you have a tiny apartment kitchen. Not to forget, this kind of blender is usually cheap and affordable.
I have heard people say: “I don’t need a blender. I don’t make soup that often.” Well, this small gadget can do so much more than making soup. Hand blenders are fast and only take about 30 seconds to make some recipes if you are in a hurry.
As a woman who is a wee bit obsessed with the hand blender, I have tried out and reviewed a few different models. I’d like to share a few recipes that will show you how fast and easy a blender can make things. Read on to learn about some of the recipes that you can make with a blender.
Pesto
People who have a food processor will tell you it is the only appliance they trust at home with their pesto. The truth is, the hand blender does equally as good a job. Yes, the food processor has all the attention but the truth is, the blender is just as powerful here.
It is easy to prepare pesto with a blender. You first need to toss some fresh basil leaves, salt, garlic and pepper into a large dish. Then stream some olive oil into the dish. Get your immersion blender and blend with an up-down-up-down motion until it gives you a smooth pesto. You can substitute the basil leaves with cilantro, spinach, parsley or arugula if you want to give it a fun and delicious twist.
Salsa
If you love salsa this will be a lot of fun for you. The procedure starts with throwing tomatoes, garlic, onions, cilantro, salt, jalapeno and pepper into a tall narrow bowl or dish. If the blender came with a beaker, you can use that.
Move the blender up and down until it forms a smooth salsa. For the tomatoes, there is a quick tip: Put them on top of the beaker or dish as they are easier for the blender to break down and also add some liquid to your salsa. The other ingredients will then blend more quickly with that liquid.
Pancake and waffle batter
This is an easy way to make waffles. I bet someone somewhere is jumping up in joy just imagining that. You won’t regret trying this recipe. If your blender came with a beaker, then you are halfway there. The beaker is the perfect size as it is ideal for breakfast-sized pancake batter.
What’s more, it will take less than 10 seconds to blend and have everything mixed up, with no lumps. Everyone should start making their waffle batter using a hand blender. You can mix your pancake batter in a bowl, dish or the beaker if you have it. Using the up-down-up-down movement, blend your mix away until it gives you a smooth batter.
You will then pour the batter straight from the blending container onto a hot griddle. Voila! You now have some pancakes. If you want waffles, there is a slight difference in making the waffle mix. After following the above steps, you would pour the mix into a waffle maker. Enjoy your breakfast!
Smoothies
This is another hand blender breakfast innovation. If you are making a single breakfast smoothie, using a large blender would feel like overkill, right? With an immersion blender at hand, you don’t need to worry about making too much.
No one loves doing the dishes and cleaning up, which you’d need to do if you used the full-on blender. Making a smoothie using an immersion blender is both easier and faster than using a regular blender.
You just need to throw some yogurt cubes and frozen fruit into the blending container and then add enough juice to cover the fruit. Using the up-down-up-down blending style again, blend the mix away until you have a smoothie. Remove the blender from the container, wash it, place a straw into the container or empty the contents into a glass and boom! Your smoothie is here.
You can prepare as many recipes as you want using a blender. You can make quite a number of them using the immersion blender. Other recipes include cheese sauce, soup, hollandaise sauce and homemade tomato sauce. You can also blend and make whipped cream and apple butter.
Whatever you want to make, just whip out the blender and you will have a finger-licking end product. If your family are always asking you to make their favorites in the morning, why deny them? Go ahead and prepare pancakes or smoothies and watch their appetites grow as their faces glow.
Many people avoid using a blender as they aren’t sure what the results will be. However, blenders are very easy to use and useful for making all kinds of things. With these tips, you can liberate your blender from your kitchen cabinet and enjoy using it every day.