Juicy Tidbits 103: Ingredients {Plus a free printable shopping list!}
Well hello there! In this juicing lesson, we’ll cover questions about ingredients – what should go in the juicer and what shouldn’t. I hope you’re excited because if you stick around, there’s a free printable and TWO recipes in it for ya! Let’s get down to business, shall we?
What can I stick in my juicer?
While other juicers may be different, I know that mine (the centrifugal type) doesn’t do well with soft things like bananas, avocados, and very over-ripe fruit. (I haven’t tried, but the instruction manual told me so.) These items apparently clog up the works and you don’t want to put your juicer out of commission, right? I sure don’t.
Apart from soft produce, the options are limitless. Ideally, you’ll want to use organic produce to try to limit your exposure to pesticides. However, if that’s not an option, be sure to remove the skin on items that are part of The Dirty Dozen.
To help you get inspired, I’ve created a nice little printable shopping list of fruits and veggies I juice regularly. If you’re fairly new to green juicing and are scared that your concoctions will taste ‘too green’, you may want to pick more items from the sweet category in the list.
What ingredients will give me the most juice?
I’ve noted on the shopping list above that fruits and veggies like celery, cucumber, and watermelon will give you heaps of liquid because they all have a very large percentage of water inside them. Other ingredients like berries and greens don’t yield a ton of juice when you consider their volume as whole foods. If you’re using a centrifugal juicer, I’d recommend adding a more juicy piece of produce like celery or cucumbers to your juicer’s chute immediately following the less-juicy foods in order to help them pass through easily.
Can I stick a whole unpeeled beet or a whole apple in the juicer’s chute?
While these contraptions can be really powerful, I always peel my beets prior to juicing them. No matter how much I scrub beets, they still feel a little dirty and I’d rather not have any nasties make their way into my juice. I also always use my pulp, and I don’t want any dirt in there either. For other items such as apples, feel free to stick the whole thing in. As long as it fits down your juicer’s chute, you should be fine. (I’m speaking from experience with a centrifugal juicer. My assumption is that the same would be true for a masticating one, but it would take longer.)
Ok, that’s enough chat. Let’s get the juice a-flowing!
Both of these recipes are packed full of nutrition. The Zippy Carrot Juice has a nice little spiciness to it thanks to fresh ginger root, which you can adjust depending on how much you like ginger. (I’m a ginger junkie!) The Pink Panther juice gets its lovely purpleish-pink colour thanks to polyphenols and betalains, two antioxidants found in beets.
Zippy Carrot Juice
by
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 0 mins
Click here to print the recipe.
Ingredients (1 serving)
- 2 large carrots
- 1 apple
- 1/2″ – 1″ piece of ginger (depending on how much ‘zip’ you want!)
- 3/4 English cucumber
- lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
Set up your juicer according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Switch on the juicer. Begin feeding the ingredients down the chute, alternating a little of each at a time. (For best results, follow a harder item (like a carrot) with a soft one such as cucumber.)
Once the carrot, apple, ginger, and cucumber have been juiced, switch off the juicer. Add lemon juice, if desired, to taste.
To ensure maximum nutritional value, consume the juice immediately or store in an air tight mason jar in the fridge for up to 12 hours.
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The Pink Panther
by
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 0 mins
Click here to print the recipe.
Ingredients (1 serving)
- 1 handful of spinach
- 1 medium-sized beet, peeled and chopped into chunks
- 6 stalks celery
- 1 apple, cored
- 1 lime, peel removed
Instructions
Switch on your juicer and pack the spinach into a tight ball.
Push the spinach into the chute, then follow with the other ingredients except for the lemon juice.
Alternate adding the remaining fruits and vegetables. I find I get the best results when I follow a harder item (beet or celery) with a soft one such as cucumber.
Once all of the produce has been juiced, switch off the juicer.
To ensure maximum nutritional value, consume the juice immediately or store in an air tight mason jar in the fridge for up to 12 hours.
Ready to give one of these recipes a whirl? If so, I’d love to hear what you think. Come back and leave a comment below, or tell me what your staple juice recipes are. Do you tend to throw things in the juicer on a whim, or do you prefer to be more precise when it comes to measuring and combining flavours?
great info, angela!! i esp enjoyed the shopping list – that would be very helpful for a new-to-juicing shopper. also, i did not know you could stick a whole apple into your juicer, for example!
i have never tried juicing…and do not have plans to do so. i do have a coupon for booster juice, maybe that will be my first step??!
beautiful colours in the photos!!
Oh trust me, these are a bazillion times better than Booster Juice!
I’ll have to make one for you some day!
LOVE this as we are SMITTEN with juicing anything and everything we can get our juicy hands on ….
Great post, Ange. I am loving cucumber in my juices these days. Sometimes I wing it but then I get disappointed… so I try to stick to recipes but taste as I go. This is my newest favourite juice:
http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/what-i-ate-on-v-day-cucumber-beet-ginger-juice-wiaw/
Oh yeah, I also usually core my apples… I didn’t know it was ok to eat the pits. I suppose horses do it so it couldn’t be poisonous.
I heard someone talking about eating apple seeds (and for the life of me I can’t remember where) who said they’d been eating them all their life and they still weren’t dead, so they couldn’t be that bad for you! I’m pretty sure the seeds just shoot back into the pulp container. I’m going to check out your new favourite juice and give it a go this weekend after I get some cucumbers from Costco!
I wish I had a juicer! These juices look seriously amazing. One day…
juices look great!
i usually like to either just throw things in the juicer and sometimes follow a recipe, I seem to do a combo
I love the recipes because it gives me an ingredient guide, but like the rest of my time in the kitchen, I am more obliged to throw a bunch of things together and be delighted with the outcome. For instance, yesterday I made carrot and pineapple juice. AMAZING!
That sounds delicious Jess! I’m like you – I start out with a guide but usually end up winging it. I don’t follow instructions very well and like to put an Angela remix on everything!
I started as a a juicer purist, following recipes from the Juice Lady’s books. Then my husband started doing the juicing for us and he is not a recipe follower! I’ve learned you can throw a lot of things together that sound bad, and it turns out good! This morning I made green apple, red cabbage, kale, carrot, green pepper, lime juice, and it’s really tasty!
That sounds great Heather! I’ve never tried doing cabbage in the juicer, but I’m going to now that you mention it. If you ask me, we don’t eat nearly enough purple foods!