Vegetable Juice

D and I recently bought a juicer. After watching numerous food documentaries describing the various chemicals and preservatives that are pumped into all processed foods, juices included, D was finally convinced that the Tropicana had to go. I’m not much of a juice drinker in general — my go to beverage being water so the only times I would indulge in a glass of bottled OJ would be to accompany my vodka. D, on the other hand, would go through a one gallon jug of Tropicana “pure and natural” orange juice in two days. No joke. And he really thought this was one of his healthier habits.

I am a firm believer that juices should NOT be  from concentrate and should be consumed as soon as they are squeezed. That’s what pure and natural juice means to me – not something from a bottle thats been traveling cross country via trucks to then patiently await an eager customer to pick it out of the grocery store. So since our affordable Black and Decker juicer arrived we have been making juices galore. Dave always going for the fruity one, and me for the vegetable juices.

The combinations are endless. Oh and what fun it is to pulverize a carrot in seconds and see the beets turned into dangerously bright fluid. This apple, beet, carrot, celery, and radish juice is my absolute favorite. I make it every time I’m feeling proactive enough to want to wash the juicer afterwards. That is the annoying part – with several different pieces and all the waste junk that didn’t get squeezed, it is quite a pain to wash the juicer. And it get’s even more annoying if you wait to wash it – as all the gunk dries up and sticks to the plastic.  No free lunch right? For this juice, it’s worth it though. I urge you to invest in a juicer and start making your own pure and natural juices immediately!

Vegetable Juice

Serves: 2

Start to Finish: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 apples

1 beet, peeled

5 carrots, peeled

5 celery stalks

small piece of black radish, peeled (about the size of the beet) (or use a 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled)

Directions:

1. Depending on the size of the juicer, cut vegetables and apples to make sure they fit through the feed chute.

2. Turn on juicer and add vegetables and apples. Enjoy!