Farm Box Juicing

Ok, so you already know how excited I get when my farmbox arrives. If I'm not whipping up a salad, roasting, grilling or sautéing the box contents, then I'm pulverizing them in my juicer for a nutrient-dense pick-me-up. I used to pass on juices in favor of fiber-filled smoothies. It never made sense to me to dump the fibrous post-juicing goodness. But after watching super juicer Jason Vale's documentary Super Juice Me over a year ago, I turned for good. Jason takes eight severely sick people to his Juicy Oasis resort in Portugal and pretty much heals them in 28 days on juice alone. He makes a sound case for getting plant nutrients quickly into the blood stream through juicing. Rather than breaking down foods, our bodies rapidly absorb plant vitamins and minerals from fresh juicing and use them for healing energy. Some people even claim to feel a little jacked up from the plant power of one cup of juice.

Convinced, I donated my old juicer and bought Vale's Fusion Juicer and book 5 Lbs in 5 Days. Turns out, as convinced as I was, juicing for even one day straight is not in the cards for me. I like to eat! But when my farmbox arrives, I jump at the chance to juice! No book or fancy recipes necessary, here's how to make a great juice every time....

The Juice Base

I always start with these ingredients for a fail-proof juice...

• 1/2 - 1 whole cucumber

• 2 stalks of celery

• 1/2 lemon, rind removed

• 1/2 green apple

The Juice Extras

Everything after the base is just extra pure goodness. This list will get you started. Mix and match depending on what you have at the time and what sounds good to you. Experiment, drink up ASAP and have fun!

• 2 handfuls kale

• 2 handfuls spinach

• 1 handful parsley, with stems

• 4-6 pineapple chunks

• 4-6 watermelon chunks

• 1-2 carrots

• 1-2 parsnips

• 1-2 kiwi, skin removed

• 1 whole baby Bok Choy or 4 big whole Bok Choy leaves

• 1 zucchini

• 1 beet (will turn your juice dark red and give it a real earthy flavor - see my photo)

• 1 cup strawberries (will turn your juice a muddy green, but still delicious)

• 1 cup blueberries (will turn your juice brown, again still delicious)

• 1 piece of ginger, one inch cube, skin on is ok with my Fusion Juicer

HEARTFUL RECIPE - One of our real food recipes that focuses on veggies, protein, healthy fats and/or healthy carbs and doesn't include gluten, dairy, soy, refined sugar, corn or peanuts.