healthy green juice

lately I have been drinking a great deal of “green juice”.  my green blend of choice is- cucumber, spinach,celery and a bit of granny smith apple.  i drink  this beautiful concoction every day, often as a meal replacement .  it’s filling, it’s delicious. and it’s dang healthy.  green juice is a delight to have, but like all juices- the prep is key… and pretty intense.

the main ingredients are cucumbers and spinach.  fortunately, spinach is in season here in Texas. central market is selling a beautiful LOCAL pre-washed REAL spinach by the bag.  i am not talking about that taste-less baby spinach crap-ola you can get anywhere, this is serious spinach.  of course the big deal isn’t so much that it isn’t baby leaf, it the big deal is that it is pre-washed.  regular spinach is so much work washing and washing  and washing off all the sand.  however, it’s non-negotiable it only takes a little grit to ruin the whole batch.  i confess if i cant get good spinach prewashed- i usually skip it and do a different receipe.  

cucumbers are notoriously “burpy” so they have to be both peeled and seeded before juicing.  this process is not very fun- and is quite messy.  you really want to be certain your kitchen sink spotlessly clean before doing this chore.  i  generally peel right into the sink for ease of clean up, plus you are going to drop those slippery cukes, trust me.  this will insure they don’t hit the floor.  to streamline the process i peel all the cukes i intend on juicing all at the same time. next is seeding.

seeding is essential and is easiest when you halve the cucmbers, keeping them big enough to hang on to. seeding a quarterd cucmber is very frustrating and s-l-o-w.  i have tried many methods and tools for cucumber de-seeding.  the important thing is to get the seeds out with out removing the flesh- the flesh is where the juice is! my favorite tool is a plastic spoon.  it’s just thin enough, it’s not too hard to hold on to when it gets slippery from all the seed membrane and it’s not aggressive on the flesh.

After you have prepped the cukes, gathered your spinach, celery and an apple you are ready to JUICE!

i prefer to juice the spinach first and use the cucumbers to “clear” the juicer.

After you are finished juicing, pour your beautiful juice into jars.  almost “over fill” the jars if possible to leave the least room for air.  Refrigerate immediately and enjoy! (within 24 hours max!)