the dinnervine

I’ve been somewhat distracted lately. Losing my keys, forgetting to water my hard-to-reach plants, barely catching the finale of Breaking Bad, and what might be even worse, neglecting to eat my veggies. I should know better, seeing as I just sang the praises of a 3-Day juice cleanse. When life is go-go-go, I end up cutting some nutritional corners. I may not live an authentic urban city lifestyle, but I certainly don’t harvest my veggies on the farm. My urban-esque surroundings leave me opting for the convenience of local delis and happy hour specials. Though I felt wonderful after the 3-Day cleanse, I knew I couldn’t live in a pre-prepared juice bliss forever, and cleanses are pretty $$$$. No, this wasn’t going to prevent me from reaping the benefits of juicing! I would do this myself, unaided by the buzzing, industrial-sized appliances of the juice bar next door. I would get a juicer of my very own . . . .

Google ‘best rated juicer‘ and you might as well Google, “How to spend the rest of the day confused.” So, I made a list of all of the qualities I wanted in a juicer—hard working, easy to deal with, clean, understanding . . . of my nutritional expectations.

With a little due-dilligence and friend’s introduction, I met the juicer of my dreams— Omega 8006, you are everything I’ve ever wanted and more! You do wheat grass, nut milks, you gently juice my produce so to maximize enzyme & nutritional content, you even come with an attachment to extrude fresh pasta.

Where. Have. You. Been. All. Of. My. Life? 

There are two main types of juicers, centrifugal and masticating, and both come with pros-and-cons. I opted for this horizontal, masticating juicer because I wanted versatile function & a smaller appliance (because counter space, ummm, is nonexistent over here). Though masticating juicers have one speed & are slower than centrifugal, they don’t produce heat that can ruin the integrity of enzymes found in fresh produce. Also, this masticating model is one of the few that can handle wheat grass, make nut milks, and it’s a cinch to assemble and clean. Omega and I jumped in head-first with an appropriately timed, detox blend. I conjured this potion using specific organic ingredients, known for their cleansing properties (not to mention are full of vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, healthy, blah, blah). We will easily make our juice, and then repurpose the collected pulp, which makes us healthy AND resourceful! <Insert pat-on-back here>

Alas, the dinnervine detox blend, let the juicing begin!

detox blend

with a juicer

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Detox Juice Blend

51

Total Time: 15 minutes

Serving Size: ~17 ounces

Freshly juiced veggies and ginger make for the perfect detox blend to get you back to centered and help flush all of those happy hours out!

What to get...

• 1/2 large organic red beet (or 1 if small)
• 1 organic carrot
• 3 sprigs organic flat leaf parsley
• 1.5 cups organic spinach leaves
• 2 large organic kale leaves
• 2 large stalks organic celery
• 1/2 large organic apple
• 3 inch piece of fresh ginger root (about 1 oz worth of juiced ginger)
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed for juice

What to do...

1. Clean all produce.
2. Using a juicer, combine all ingredients except lemon, into one blend.
3. after juicing, squeeze juice of 1/2 fresh lemon and combine, careful to avoid seeds.
4. Double and store half for next day or second serving throughout the day.

Notes

Can store in airtight jar for 24 hours, though ginger is best juiced right before consuming. You can add some filtered water or coconut water to thin as desired. Add more apple to enhance sweetness as needed, and less ginger if it is too spicy.

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http://www.dinnervine.com/2013/10/juicing-detox-blend/

from the kitchen of www.dinnervine.com

Why did I chose these ingredients, and why would I want to drink a garnish? 

The celery, parsley and lemon juice are known to help flush toxins from the liver. Spinach and kale, are your greens with enzymes & iron to help cleanse the body. The ginger has a slew of benefits (anti-inflammatory, stomach aide, good with sushi). Apple offers pectin and fiber. Carrot gives us antioxidants. Beets are a powerhouse of nutrients known to to detoxify the blood.

Well, what does it taste like?

It tastes just like bacon . . . isn’t that magical?! Sadly, I’m messing with you. This bacon-less concoction isn’t sweet like fruit juice, but clean and tangy with a kick from the ginger & parsley. If you juice the sweets, greens and ginger separately, then mix, you’ll be able to control your desired flavor level. All together we get a natural sweetness from the apple and beet, which also lends a subtle earthiness. This is my morning juice-of-choice! If you prefer a less-concentrated mix, then it’s easy to add some filtered or coconut water, though I like mine straight-up! 

So, what happens to all of the fibrous, pulp the juicer spits-out as ‘waste’? Waste not, want not, so we have homemade veggie stock cubes:

Depends if you want to throw it away or use it. Organic veggies are expensive so I opted to use. I chose some of the pulp to make frozen stock cubes to cook with later when making soups, casseroles and sauces. In doing so, I juiced the ingredients in a specific order, so to have savory pulp without the beet, apple and ginger. I simply pressed—combined celery, carrot, spinach, kale, parsley—pulp into an empty ice cube tray, added a little water, covered with plastic wrap and froze! Later I transferred cubes to a freezer-safe Ziplock to keep handy for all of my fall cooking.

The beet pulp, which is a fine consistency, I saved in the fridge using later on top of Greek Salad. Since ginger has antiseptic properties and was too fibrous to eat, I ran this pulp down my garbage disposal with some hot water, to clean it. Additionally, you could steep the ginger pulp in your hot tea with an infuser. As for the apple pulp, I tossed it, only because I ran the core and seeds with it. If I had removed those, this would have been a great addition to muffin or pancake batter! If none of these interest you, then you could combine pulp and use as compost in your plantar beds? Who knew juicing could lead to all of this kitchen craftiness? (or OCD, who am I kidding?) See Omega, you really bring out the best in me! 

This juice shows V-8 who’s boss!