BBQ Breakfast Menu ideas

The super-strong Vitamix blades can whiz chickpeas and whole sesame seeds together to yield an extra silky-smooth hummus without gobs of tahini or oil (both are delicious but can get heavy on the fat per serving). Don’t forget to get crazy with the seasonings—half the fun of hummus is all the ways you can riff on it, and this blogger has plenty of nutritious suggestions! (Tip: Use less liquid and warm chickpeas, and you can get similar results with a regular food processor too.)

Everyone loves a good cheese dip, but this one is totally vegan friendly and just as tasty. Combine potatoes, carrots, olive oil, and nutritional yeast in a blender; throw in some spices; and blend until creamy. Not only are you ditching the dairy with this dip, you're also adding in some extra servings of veggies.

Always thought kebabs with fancy marinades were just too much work for a regular weeknight? Allow the Vitamix to step in and save the day—and your time. There is almost no work involved: Just throw a bunch of fragrant and cancer-fighting ingredients (habanero chilies, turmeric, and garlic) into the blender, and puree away. Pour over the skewered veggies and protein of your choosing for an elevated snack or meal.

Oh hello, velvety, garlicky goodness. Armed with blenders and a bit of imagination, bloggers have created countless “healthified” Alfredo sauces. But this one stands out from the rest for ditching soy and gluten (no flour needed!), along with being dairy and oil free. Using cashews, it ups the magnesium factor while slashing the fat by a whopping 36 grams per serving compared to the egg yolk and heavy cream-soaked restaurant version.

Everyone should have a go-to homemade pesto sauce in his or her culinary repertoire. Make this one yours. This recipe combines basil, Parmesean, and pine nuts in the Vitamix, which dramatically reduces prep time, whipping up an iron- and omega-3-filled blend of greens and nuts in mere minutes.

We know how it is: Every dairy-free pasta sauce recipe seems to resort to cashews for that rich and creamy boost. That’s where this recipe steps in. Thanks to the pulverizing power of the Vitamix, heart-healthy olive oil and garlic-roasted veggies combined with a bit of nondairy milk can be churned into a sauce silky enough to rival any nut- or cheese-based version.

The title of this recipe says it all: No need for hours of stewing fruit over the stovetop for homemade applesauce. When the Vitamix is involved, you’re talking seconds for a raw and chunky rendition, or about three extra minutes for the cooked kind. It doesn’t get fresher or faster than that. Either way you go, don’t leave out the vanilla and blood sugar-stabilizing cinnamon for extra depth of flavor that complements the fiber in the apples.

Most recipes for smooth soup involve two steps: cooking them on the stovetop and pureeing them in a blender. But the Vitamix takes the two-step process down to one by heating and blending simultaneously—hooray for time-slashing techniques! Give it a try with this aromatic, savory-sweet recipe of souped-up squash and apples. Almond milk both thickens it up and gives it a silky finish.

Given all the veggies and chopping it calls for, gazpacho can be kind of intimidating. Save yourself the effort and still get your summery soup fix by throwing everything, from the garlic and the olive oil to the tomatoes and the cucumbers, in your Vitamix and blending until your desired consistency. Whether you prefer it chunky or smooth, you’re only about 30 seconds away from a phytochemical-packed, blood pressure-lowering meal.

Broccoli cheddar, we’re calling you out as one of the biggest healthy food imposters on the menu, with minimal greens and heaps of cheese and butter. But this version deserves its health halo, with just four ounces of high-quality cheddar divided among four servings, and carrots joining the broccoli for extra skin-protecting beta-carotene. Health benefits aside, the other bonus is that the Vitamix can warm the soup as it blends, consolidating prep, cook, and heat time into a single step. Perfect for dinner on the fly.

It’s a warmer version of gazpacho, with an amped-up protein and fiber count from the addition of black beans and corn. Have it ready in a jiffy by using the soup setting on the Vitamix and top with your favorite healthy taco fixin’s, from (baked!) tortilla chips to buttery avocado.

Soup’s on, indeed, with this incredibly quick-to-make, filling-to-eat pumpkin puree. A combination of maple syrup and coconut milk, along with your favorite fall flavors, packs a whole lot of taste. The result is almost like a thick, spoonable stew. Give it the “Vitamix treatment” (i.e., use the “puree and heat” setting).

This recipe cuts the cooking time down on your regular soup as the Vitamix blitzes a veggie-riffic combo of onions, carrots, celery, and tomato into a steaming bowl of mood-boosting comfort. Despite all the other veggies, the tomato flavor is still unmistakable, making it the ideal concoction to dunk a grilled cheese into, pair with a salad, or scoop up with a side of saltines.

Entrees

Talk about a Lazy Sunday: Sit back, relax, and let Vitamix whip up brunch with this protein- and fiber-filled frittata. It chops the veggies and beats the eggs, leaving you with nothing to do except pour the entire mixture into a dish and bake. Pair with a mimosa and Netflix.

There’s nothing like wrapping two hands around a solid, homemade veggie burger. But admittedly, just thinking about how much dicing and pulsing goes into making a batch can drive us to those premade frozen patties. Here’s a shortcut.

When it comes to mac and cheese, that blue box may be a quick-fix meal, but baffling ingredients like “Yellow No. 6” don’t inspire much confidence in the nutrition department. This all-natural, vegan mac and cheese has a sauce of cashews, nutritional yeast, and a dash of turmeric that beats the pants off the powdered stuff in terms of flavor.

Cauliflower may be all the rage right now, but the mess involved when chopping up it up definitely isn’t a party. Have the Vitamix do the dirty work: One quick push of the “pulse” button, and you’ve got pulverized florets in mere seconds that can sub in for rice.

If you think hash browns are strictly the turf of weekend brunch, get ready to treat yourself (with the help of the Vitamix) any day of the week. Thanks to its speedy chopping, it’s easy to pull together a quick, flavorful hash. Throw in some sweet, diced apples for a powerhouse breakfast that’ll charge your morning.