firm than others, for the more delicate leaves, use a celery stalk or carrot to help clear it through the juicer. Lettuce is a lovely light flavor and very high in water volume like spinach, so it gives a nice volume of juice for its mass that is light and pleasant tasting.
Lemon: As with all citrus, the best way to prepare lemons for juicing is to use a paring knife and cut through the skin only (as much as possible) in a circumference around the whole fruit and then do that again off-set by 90 degrees. This will give you a fruit with the skin cut into quarters and the fruit un-cut. Gently peel away the rind of each quarter section until all the peel is removed. Then carefully separate into section pieces which will fit into the chute. This method will allow you to separate the citrus into small enough sections for the juicer without actually breaking open the juice containing cells of the fruit.
Melon: Cut and remove seeds and cut into wedges. Some melons are so large that it is easiest to cut the wedges into juicer sized pieces. For smaller melons, simply cut the wedges and then remove the melon peel and drop whole wedges into the chute. Melon is another of the lovely high water content light flavor options to lighten and sweeten high greens content juices.
Mint: Mint is a great addition to most juices. You don’t need much. One bunch of mint can last through a whole week’s worth of juices. Just a few sprigs is all you need to brighten up any juice.
Parsley: One of our all-time favorites for juicing, we are generous with the parsley and have no trouble adding half a good sized bunch to one juice. We just love the stuff. It is also very high in iron and adding any citrus to a juice with parsley in it will give your body instant access to the iron while boosting your calcium intake.
Radish: Another hot and peppery one, you can use daikon or red ‘breakfast’ radishes. The small red ones are sweet in season and won’t make the juice too peppery, but taste them first, because once hot weather hits, they tend to get more peppery tasting. We like using three or four of the young cool weather variety in our regular juices. Once summer comes, we cut it down to one or two and use the rest of them in salads and sandwiches. One bunch of radishes can last all week.
Spinach: This is another one that can be used anytime and because it is grown in greenhouses all over the country, it’s relatively easy to find. Pre-washed organic baby leaves are the highest in nutritive value and the easiest to juice. Just add a small handful at a time and push them through with a carrot, celery or other firmer vegetable to help push them through the juicer.
Sweet Potatoes: Sweet Potatoes (Yams) are the other sweet vegetable when it comes to juicing. Use them to temper super green drinks or for an amazing winter treat with carrot, celery, beets and a little mint or parsley. Also excellent as a juice with orange.
Tomato: A great summer juicing vegetable. Cut into wedges slender enough to fit in the juicer chute and juice away. Excellent with celery and parsley and lemon or lime.
Turnips: Wash and cut into pieces that will fit into the chute.
Yams: See Sweet Potatoes.
Benefits of Juicing – The Ingredients to Get the Results You Want
This section will give you hands on tips for preparing your fruits, veggies and herbs for juicing as well as give you some examples of juices you can make, and get you started on your own exploration of mixing and matching juicing ingredients.
While I’ve never been a big fan of specific juice recipes, I am a big fan of knowing the ingredients that work best to achieve my desired result. It’s not hard to find lots of recipes for juicing out there; and it’s a simple thing to compare a lot of different people’s ideas of recipes and begin to see how they all work together – which ingredients do what, and so forth.
Each of us has to gauge what works best for us individually, but we also have to go through a period of discovery. Try not to back yourself into a corner or fall into a rut of only juicing one way or at one time of day or even with only certain ingredients.
Use the Juicing Ingredients Guide in the next chapter to get detailed nutritional information on a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs to help guide your juicing ingredient choices.
TIPS:
Detox Juices
These are the juices that help your body flush out toxins and restore vitality. Most of us do not do nearly enough regular cleansing to help our bodies stay clean on the inside. Increasing our clean water intake, regular exercise, stretching and a regular practice of receiving massages can all aid in getting our detoxification system back in order. You will see and feel these changes quickly if you give your body a chance to get clean. The fastest way to do that is to stop putting in food or anything else other than juices and clean water for a few days, or even a few weeks if you can do it. Otherwise, start by replacing your first meal of the day with these juices – your results will not be as quick to materialize, but they will be just as dramatic as they do.
Greens and Cleansing Veggies:
Barley Grass
Celery
Cilantro
Cucumber
Dandelion
Kale
Parsley
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Wheatgrass
Beets
Carrots
Sweet Potato
Apples
Cantaloupe
Kiwi
Lemon
Lime
Oranges
Pears
Ginger
Turmeric
Balancing Veggies:
Fruits:
Optional Extra Power Boosters:
You can mix and match these ingredients for great detoxifying juices with the understanding that the main purpose of the detox juice is to get those greens and astringent veggies to work for you without too much sweet. Here are some standard combinations for detoxing juices.
