Pineapple Salsa Smoothie: Recipe from The Blender Girl Book (2024)

Do you find yourself spending WAY too much moolah at the local smoothie bar and organic cafe? Are you having a love affair with your high speed blender, yet find yourself making the same recipes over and over again? If you found yourself hollering, "yes, Yes, YES!" then you much check out this new book. The Blender Girl: Super-Easy, Super-Healthy Meals, Snacks, Desserts, and Drinks--100 Gluten-Free, Vegan Recipes! by Tess Masters will be on shelves tomorrow (April 8th) and it is going to rock your blender-lovin' world. Below I'll share one of my favorite smoothie recipes from the publication, but first let me give you a little breakdown of this stunning work of art.

Tess Masters is known for her lively, down- to-earth approach to demonstating quick and easy ways to prepare healthy, whole-food recipes. Not only are her creations gluten-free and vegan, they are also based on natural flavors and sweeteners, and many are also raw and nut-, soy-, corn-, and sugar-free.Smoothies, soups, and spreads are a given in a blender cookbook, and this surprisingly versatile collection also includes appetizers, salads, and main dishes with a blended component.The recipes are blender centered but by no means blender only.

Here's a taste of what you'll be tantalizing your taste buds with:

• the cream of cauliflower soup that is susprisingly dairy-free
• the veggie-packed tomato sauce that turns any pasta or pizza into nutritious family fun food
• the potato salad whose blended dressing ensures no spud will be a dud
• the apple pie smoothie that’s reminiscent of the perfect bite à la mode
• the ten-minute chocolate torte that makes chocoholics weak at the knees (yes please!)
• the kale shake that tastes like pistachio ice cream
• Fresh Spring Rolls with Orange-Almond Sauce, Twisted Caesar Pleaser, Spicy Chickpea Burgers with Portobello Buns and Greens, Chocolate-Chile Banana Spilly, Flourless Triple-Pecan Mousse Pie, Chai Rice Pudding...come on now, how amazing does all of that sound?!

In addition to all the mouth-watering recipes, Tess guides readers through the details on the benefits of soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating; proper food combining; and eating raw, probiotic-rich, and alkaline ingredients. All you need is a sense of adventure, a few minutes anda blender, and the latter doesn't have to be a fancy high speed model. In fact, Tesshad over recipe testers blending all over the world using basic $60 machines! And if you don't own a blender yet, her book will give you the lowdown on which one to invest in.Best of all, every recipe can easily be adjusted to your personal taste: add an extra squeeze of this, another handful of that, or leave something out altogether—you can't go wrong!

Ok, are you ready for a sneak peak into the book (aka the smoothie recipe I promised)? Here it is, the Pineapple Salsa Smoothie!

One of Tess' all-time favorite green smoothies, this packs a powerful punch. It bursts with complex flavors that dance on the tip of your tongue and tickle your throat long after they’ve massaged your belly. This one is a stunner, and it does justice to every bite of even the best pineapple salsa.

Serves 2

• 1 cup (240ml) coconut water or water
• 2 ½ cups (400g) diced pineapple, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup (43g) firmly packed baby spinach
• 1 ½ teaspoons finely chopped
• red onion, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped cucumber
• ¼ cup (7g) finely chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeño chile, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
• Pinch of finely grated lime zest
• Pinch of natural salt, plus more to taste (optional, to bring out flavors)
• 1 cup (125g) ice cubes (none if using frozen pineapple)
• Natural sweetener (optional)

1. Put all of the ingredients into your blender in the order listed and puree for about 1 minute, until smooth and creamy.
2. Tweak flavors to taste (you may want more onion, jalapeño, lime juice, salt, or sweetener, depending on the ripeness of your pineapple).

I'll leave you with this brilliant quote from Tess:

We can’t bottle time, so in our hectic lives we’ve taken to bottling, canning, boxing, and vacu-packing everything else. Convenience foods offer a quick (and often, virtually empty) way to fill up on the fly, and it’s only human that we make the trade-off. But we don’t have to compromise on health, nutrition, or good eating just because we’ve got pressing things to do. Enter the blender, which makes healthy fast food possible. This phenomenal machine is the greatest culinary gift bestowed on us since fire and spoons! Blending makes life easier, levels the playing field in the kitchen, and allows anybody to whip up nutrient-dense, tasty foods with limited skills and time.

If you loved the recipe and learning about the book, be sure to check out The Blender Girl and keep tabs on Tess across the web:

Recipe reprinted with permission from The Blender Girl: Super-Easy, Super-Healthy Meals, Snacks, Desserts, and Drinks--100 Gluten-Free, Vegan Recipes! by Tess Masters, copyright © 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Photo taken by Anson Smart © 2014