encylclofoodia

To make juicing work in the real world, around work, life and everything inbetween, it needs to flexible, enjoyable and accessible.  We need to have a more than a couple of juice recipes in our repertoires, and be able to create a juice on the fly, from whatever is to hand.

This means some juicing principles need to be established, how and with what do we and can we juice.

In juicing, all we have is ingredients- no salt or sugar to add flavour, no different cooking methods to add interest, just the juice.

So, let’s redefine methods and ingredients for the purpose of juice:

Juicing condiments, things that really add or change flavour, with just a little being added:

• Lemon or lime juice
• Ginger
• Herbs

Texture changers, things that give variation in texture:

• Avocado- creaminess and great fats
• Oat bran- body and lots of fibre
• Ice
• Pineapple, if you add this at the end is gives a nice frothy head to the juice

Base ingredients, although a mixture of the two I find is best:

• Fruit based
• Veg based

Methods:

• Standard juicing
• Blending
• Sprinkling

Juicing is all about the healthy, and easily absorbed nutrients from fresh ingredients, so the lists of the World’s Healthiest Foods website, is an ideal selection list.

http://www.whfoods.com/

Its would be nice to think that our fruit and veg contained nothing but goodness, but the increased use of chemicals to increase growth and prevent decay or bug-eating means that we often consume more than we bargain for.  The comsumption of these chemicals has yet to be proven and defined, but one thing is for sure- it won’t be good.

Apparently these veggies are the ones that are likley to have highest pesticide usage…so where possible, choose organic

• Celery
• Spinach
• Kale
• Collard Greens
• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Cucumber- apparently not as bad if you peel the skin, but surely being green, thats a bit we need to be including?!

SO, we have some basic principles, methods and ingredients….

Next up: I’ll be starting with some juicing combinations (don’t think I can justify calling them recipes)