Cress: Water and land cress are both great powerhouses of nutrition and excellent in juices. They are on the peppery – hot side, so mix them with carrot, beet or yam to mellow the peppery flavor.
Cucumber: Cucumbers are generally available either waxed or unwaxed. If you grow your own or buy from local farmers they are generally unwaxed. Grocery store cukes are often waxed. This matters because if they are waxed you need to peel them. (You don’t want to juice wax and drink it!) If you are unsure, peel them. Cucumbers can also be bitter at their ends. To avoid bitterness either routinely cut off their ends or make sure to taste test before you add them to the juice. Then cut them lengthwise into quarters so they are slender enough to go down the chute. Sometimes if they are really fat and round you will need to cut them again before they will fit. They make a delicious and extremely healthy juice and add a light and delicious flavor to any other produce juice combination. One of our favorites.
Dandelion: Juice the leaves and not the root. The root can be made into a delicious tea, but is best brewed. Wash and shake leaves and insert into chute in small bunches. Dandelion is potent, so use a little bit at a time and taste before adding more!
Fennel: Wash and shake dry. Cut lengthwise from the top, separating out the individual stalks as you go. Some of these will still be too wide at the base for juicing, cut the base bulb down to more slender pieces. Fennel is surprisingly mild and wonderful in a raw juice. It is also incredibly good for you. Wait for it to come into season (winter/early spring) and get it at the best prices. Delicious!
Garlic: Peel and juice individual cloves. Use it sparingly. It is very pungent and powerful when juiced raw. We do not juice garlic often, preferring to add it to cooked foods or to roast whole garlic heads and enjoy the more mild roasted flavor.
Ginger: Cut off a one inch section of root and peel. Juice ginger while juicing carrots, yams, celery, apples or other firm fruit as it needs to be ‘pushed’ through the juicer for the best effect. Ginger is quite pungent and some people ‘feel’ it in their sinuses when they drink it in a raw juice. I personally love it and have no problem with this, but test it for yourself to find the right amount. Usually one 1-inch piece of peeled root is plenty for a juice session for one or two people.
Kale: Wash and shake to remove excess water. For extra large leaves, cut lengthwise and feed into chute leafy top first, using the stem to help to push the rest through. Kale is one of our favorites for juicing. It is astringent, but it is also truly delicious. In the right season (cool weather early spring and/or fall crops, it is incredibly sweet. We find ourselves eating the leaves as we juice so that half of it is eaten during the juicing process and the rest gets into the juice. In late spring and summer kale can become suddenly super bitter if the heat has come on before the harvest, so taste it and temper the amounts if it is bitter. It is still good in the juice when bitter, but too much will really give you that sense of drinking a juice that is good for you rather than good tasting.
Lettuce: Wash and shake off excess water, cut length-wise to make slender strips. Some lettuce is hardier/more 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