Root Veggie & Orange Juice

 

You can read all manner of comment regarding juicing and its benefits and drawbacks on the internets, but when it comes to anything raw, vegetarian and healthy I turn to my best friend Gena, a brilliant mind, a fantastic friend, a future doctor, and the writer of the crazy popular website Choosing Raw.

Here’s a little insight from Gena regarding juicing from an article she recently wrote for the website One Green Planet:

“So what are the real benefits of juicing? Well, to begin, juice offers us a flood of vitamins and minerals: juicing extracts these key nutrients from vegetables while discarding the fiber, so that you can absorb and assimilate them without any strain on your digestive system. Juicing also enables volume of micronutrients; most people could never consume in a day the amount of vegetables that can be easily put into a cup or two of juice. Lastly, juicing is a great way to consume vegetables and fruits if one happens to be too busy to heat several enormous salads every single day. A cup of nutrient-rich vegetable juice can be sipped quickly and on the go, or throughout the day. It allows you to take in a ton of nutrition without having to slow down. Think of it as functional food: it’s no stand in for the tastes, pleasures, and benefits of solid food (which offers you far more protein and starch than juicing ever will), but it is a great way to get nutrition with minimal fuss.”

I, as many do, trust Gena’s opinion on most anything, especially food and nutrition and I also happen to know how energized I feel after a fresh juice in the morning. I am not talking about copious glasses of store bought apple or orange juice, packed with extra sugar and preservatives. I am referring to all manner of fresh fruits and vegetables. From Romaine lettuce to ginger root and kale to cayenne pepper, you can juice just about anything.

Running the price gamut from as low as $29.99 to an astronomical $449.99, juicers are accessible at all income levels. We’ve got a trusty old Breville Juice Fountain Compact. It’s a bit messy, as we’ve lost the accompanying container, but it does the trick.

While the pulpy mess created by juicing can be an issue for many, once you make it a part of your morning routine you won’t think twice about a few extra minutes of cleaning time. Plus you can make a huge variety of crackers, snacks and veggie burgers from that left over juice pulp (Gena’s website can show you how).

If this post whets your appetite, here are two of our favorite, beginner friendly juice recipes. Try them for a week and see the difference.

Root Veggie & Orange Juice (maker about 1 1/2 cups)

1 navel orange
1/2 beet
3 carrots
1″ piece of ginger

Clean and chop all vegetables into halves or quarters. Peel the orange and cut in half. Per your juicers instruction, run each piece of fruit and vegetable through your juicer. Combine all liquids and enjoy!

If juicing root vegetables first thing in the morning is not to your liking, try an entirely different combination of fruits and vegetables.

Green Juice (maker about 1 1/2 cups)

1 granny smith apple
2 celery sticks
2″ piece cucumber
1″ piece ginger

Clean and chop all vegetables into halves or quarters. Per your juicers instruction, run each piece of fruit and vegetable through your juicer. Combine all liquids and enjoy!