Veggie Tales: Green Lemonade

Over the last few months, I have been actively consuming more vegetables.  I should probably say A LOT more vegetables; between Mike and I we go through over two pounds of greens and at least five pounds of other vegetables a week.  This new trend in my diet was brought on by an incredibly decadent holiday season filled with too much meat, way too many potatoes, and an absurd overdose of sugars that left me reeling upon return to school in January.  Now, several months in, I have entered into a complete hippy-like health food obsession, and a big facet of said obsession has been juicing.  

If you don't own a juicer I seriously recommend that you consider the investment.  I could never have imagined how much I would value one extremely heavy kitchen appliance.  I have this one courtesy of my awesome Uncle Joe.  I've also heard really good things about the single-gear nutrition center, but it is really crazy looking and I'm glad mine is a little less conspicuous.  A good juicer is costly but well worth the price. The concoctions I make with mine are delicious and jam-freaking-packed with nutrients.  Buy a high-end model that does the work slowly (omega is really the undisputed best brand) to make the best and most nutritious juice.  Mostly, I make vegetable juices, but I have also become accustomed to occasional fresh mimosas with Sunday brunch. Seriously, they are infinitely better than the ones made with tropicana.  

My favorite juice to make is green lemonade.  It sounds gross, I know, and to most people it probably looks gross as well.  

HA can you see Lols in the background? 

But it is so yummy.  Here's what you'll need to make two servings:

Bunch of kale

4 celery stalks

1 small cucumber

1 lemon

1 apple

3-4 sprigs of mint or a 1-inch chunk of fresh ginger

Cold water

Make sure the kale is washed thoroughly and throw your ingredients into the juicer in the order listed.  I add the cold water into the juicer at the end and then mix it all up before I pore it into glasses; that way I get every last drop of juice out of the machine.  Leave the stalks on the kale, the skin on the apple, cucumber and lemon, and leaves on the celery.  There are vitamins and nutrients galore in these parts.  If you've got a decent juicer, there's no need whatsoever to even core the apple.  

Kale is the king of all vegetables; it is literally one of the healthiest things available on planet earth.  Most people don't like it and that makes me sad.  It cooks up beautifully in soups, stews, and casseroles when paired with the right flavors.  If you eat it raw it has an absolutely insane amount of good-for-you properties, but I can't imagine anyone ever doing that because it is so bitter.  Its juiced form, however, is mild and versatile.  When you sip this awesome stuff, you taste the lemon and mint, and just a hint of the celery (while the apple keeps the juice from being overpoweringly tart).   If you are apprehensive about drinking vegetables, you can replace the celery with another small cucumber, and I swear this will taste just like a subdued version of lemonade.  The thing you lose when you juice is obviously the fiber, but I get plenty of that in my salads.  More posts on my weird eating habits to follow.  Stay tuned.