Green juice is a must–it is a perfect food that is a major part of my diet. It is full of so many benefits, unlimited flavors, colorful, and really good for your body. It is relatively easy to prepare, since fresh organic ingredients, are available at most grocery stores. Juicing has become very popular, there are numerous organic juice bars opening up, delivery cleanse juice programs, and of course the juice bars located in Whole Foods. I prefer to make my own juice when I can, but sometimes when I am out all day I do take advantage of various juice bars in the city. I started juicing three years ago, my friend Teresa was instrumental in teaching me everything she knew about juicing. I used to be a “coffee crack” addict, but after detoxing my “drug” of choice is a strong green juice.

Gigi's Green Juice

Green juice is an acquired taste, when I first started I used a lot of fruit to cut the taste of the bitter greens. Now I use mostly greens with a little fruit. One of the things I like most about juicing is there is no way to make a mistake, you may not like the concoction you end up with every time, but your palate will begin to instinctively know what combinations you are craving. Juicing is also a good way to use your veggies and fruit especially if you have a tendency to over buy like me, you can juice everything before it has a chance to go bad. The only piece of equipment you need is a juicer, there are so many on the market and they have come down in price and the new models are easy to clean. I have a breville juicer. My first juicer was a Jack lalanne  that I purchased at Costco. Another popular juicer that a few of my friends have is the hamilton beach big mouth juicer.

My Breville Juicer

When I began juicing, I had to come up with a little system. I needed to make the process unfussy with just a few steps which would allow me to be consistent. Juicing will never be as easy as popping a top off a bottle of juice on the shelf, but once you start you will never want prepackaged juice again. When I buy my produce I always wash it right away, and have it juice ready, like the juice bars do, chopped and ready to go. Save the plastic produce bags and use them in the container part of the juicer to catch all the pulp. Use recipes as a guide, and don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

My favorite recipe for a basic green juice.

• 1 bunch of kale
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 green apples
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 small piece of peeled ginger
• 1 peeled lemon
• 1/2 cup of mint or parsley

Juice all ingredients through juicer starting with kale alternating with other veggies. Serves 2

Kale

I chop the stems off and chop the leaves a little.

Meyer Lemons

Meyer lemons picked from my tree.

Gigi’s tropical green juice

• 1 bunch of kale
• 3 cucumbers
• 1/2 pineapple or (more to your taste)
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 small piece of peeled ginger
• 1 peeled lemon
• water from one young coconut

Juice all ingredients through juicer starting with kale alternating with other veggies. Serves 3

Gigi's Tropical Green Juice

Fresh Juice

Cheers, Happy Juicing…thanks for stopping by. Share what combinations are your favorites.

Gigi