Ruby Apple Juice

Up until Wednesday of this week I was doing a cleanse.

It was a simple, non-invasive herbal formula you're supposed to drink three times a day with apple juice. Your diet can be the same as before, but my room mate and I decided to take it a step up and go mostly raw. This was great for us, since the days are getting warmer, because we could eat raw food without needing to keep warm during the day. Our meals consisted mostly of juices, salads with fresh, local greens and sprouted beans (chickpeas mostly, mmm,) and seed pate, usually with steamed or roasted veggies for dinner. I've got some fun recipes from that that I'll be posting soon, but for now, I'd like to start with talking about juice!

Fruit and Vegetable juices for breakfast is something I'm definitely adopting long-term. It gets assimilated quickly (which is needed for morning exercise and garden play), and it's quick, fun to make, and very easily transportable. It makes me feel great! :) I'm not a fan of huge breakfasts anyway, because I'm always left feeling weighed down all day as a result.

If you don't have a juicer but would love to make some fresh juice, you can probably throw it all in the food processor and squeeze the juice out through cheesecloth. I'd recommend investing in a juicer, however, which comes in a wide range of prices. I'm currently saving up for a Champion Juicer*, which not only juices, but makes nut butters, fruit sorbets, etc. and is the only juicer of its kind that's still made in the United States.

This is a simple, flavourful juice that's made with things that most of us have on hand to begin with. The hint of ginger gives it a nice little kick. I could totally drink this every day. :)

Ruby Apple Juice

4 medium apples (I used two galas and two pink ladies)
2 large carrots
1 small beet
1 inch fresh ginger root

Run all ingredients into the juicer, and serve! Makes about 2 cups.

*Want to help me get a Champion Juicer sooner? Donate to the cause! :)

Warm Beet Salad with Tangy Mustard Dressing

Beets! Ah, how I love thee.

I can still remember the first time I bit into a raw beet (with the tops still on) in front of Jeremy on a road trip. He got very wide-eyed and said "You can DO that?!" He likes raw beets too, but had only ever had them peeled and chopped in salads and things. He took a bite, and ended up eating more than I did. I've turned him to the raw side of the beet! ;)

This salad, however, does not showcase raw beets. At first, I was thinking of making pan-fried beet fries. The more I cooked them, though, the more I thought having a sweet glaze on them would be divine... and it was! Oh, how it was...


Warm Orange-Balsamic Beet Salad

2 large beets, sliced into French-Fry-style strips
1/2 cup salt-free veggie stock
1/2 cup orange juice
3 Tb. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

baby spinach
orange segments, quartered

In a nonstick skillet, heat olive oil on med-high. Toss in beets, salt, and pepper, and saute for about 5-7 minutes. Start adding the veggie stock in splashes, letting the liquid mostly evaporate before adding more. This should take about 7-10 minutes. If your pan evaporates too quickly, turn the heat down slightly.

Once the veggie stock is gone, do the same with the orange juice, and toward the end, add the balsamic by the tablespoon. When the beets look good and caramelized with a thick glaze, take off the heat.

Add the warm beets to a bed of spinach and orange, and dress with:

Tangy Mustard Dressing

1 Tb. honey or agave
2 tsp. dijon mustard
splash lemon juice

Whisk ingredients together, and drizzle over beets and greens.

Makes two bowls.

Ginger Beet Juice

I love beets.

When I say I love beets, I mean I really love beets. I'm one of those people who loves to take them straight from the garden, rub the dirt off, and bite into 'em. I never understood why people peeled them, either, as I've come to understand that much of the nutrients in vegetables come from the skins. So, why, in our modern age, do we always peel our veggies and then cook the crap out of them? The world may never know. ;)

I, on the other hand, like peels. And raw veggies. This morning, I knew I would be making soup later, but needed a quick something to drink that would give me some energy and fight off the cold that I feel coming on, so I pulled out the ol’ juicer and made some beet juice.

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Ginger Beet Juice

3 large beets, quartered, tops removed (or can be added, but I ate ‘em earlier)

3 decent sized garlic cloves*

2 inch chunk of ginger, with skin

2 good splashes of lemon juice (or juice from 2 lemons)

Juice beets, ginger, and garlic. (I put the ginger and garlic in between the chunks of beets, to avoid clogs) Add lemon juice to juicer, to rinse it out a bit. Optional: grab a hunk of the pulp^ and throw it in, for texture. :)

Enjoy!

Makes about 3 cups, but will vary by the size of the beets.

*Jeremy, my fiance, said it had too much garlic, so feel free to lessen the amount, or leave them out completely. I love garlic, and they’re fantastic raw if you’re not feeling well.

^If you want to use the pulp for something, it can be put straight into soups, salads, or dehydrated for crackers. Ooh! I wonder if it’d make good mashed “potatoes”! I’ll try that tonight.

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Have a wonderful afternoon!

~Lyra