So yesterday, we went into town for groceries and as I was wandering the aisles of Costco (always a dangerous thing), I happened upon a Vitamix display. Now, I’ve been lusting after this Cadillac of blenders for ten years or so….and my own blender just bit the dust….and my mum gave me a bit of dough for my birthday, so what could I do, but BUY ONE!!!

YES, I FINALLY BOUGHT A VITAMIX AND I’M IN LOVE!!!!

The first thing I attempted was a soy-yogurt-frozen-banana-mango dessert, which ended up too runny, but actually delicious the next day. The second was a rather delicious tomato-basil soup that took all of about six minutes to make because the Vitamix not only blends, but also heats the soup.

I used this video as a rough guide, and it was very good. Here are my ingredients:

Vitamix Tomato-Basil Soup

Add to the Vitamix:

2 cups water

3 very ripe whole tomatoes (next time, I’ll use more flavourful ones, like Roma)

1 clove garlic

a handful of fresh basil from the garden

a couple of green onions from the garden

a handful of baby carrots

a wedge of cabbage

a chunk of green pepper

a chunk of jalapeno pepper

1 TBS Better Than Bouillon Vegetable paste

2 knobs of fresh turmeric root

a generous handful of cashews

lots of freshly ground pepper

Pulse it a couple of times to get everything ground up (I could NOT believe how quickly this occurred!).

Next, set it to soup, and walk away until it stops. It’s LOUD, so you’ll need to walk away. Once the blender stops, the soup should be done, and, if you like it a bit chunky, add a handful of grape tomatoes and a chunk of pepper and blend for a few seconds.

Meanwhile, I had a couple of loaves of whole-wheat herb bread in the oven.

And this homemade (all from scratch!!), healthy lunch was as quick as waiting in line at Timmy Ho’s for a soup and bun…and twice as delicious!