A cool beverage on a summer day is a great way to beat the heat. Sugary sodas may be tasty, but their artificial energy can wear off and make you crash. For a more refreshing option, try some delicious homemade vegetable juice instead: chilled vegetable juice can be tasty, invigorating, and guilt-free. Here are some tips and recipes to make your own.
All you really need to make vegetable juice is tasty ingredients and a good juicer. Some vegetables are great by themselves, while others benefit from being combined with other ingredients. Carrots and tomatoes do well simply washed, peeled, chopped, then run through the juicer. These pure juices are just like eating vegetables—an easy and delicious way to meet your recommended intake.
Mixed vegetable juices are a fun way to get creative. You can personalize according to your specific taste and experiment with your favorite ingredients. When combining vegetables, keep in mind the flavor strength of each ingredient to maintain a balance. Mixed juices are also a great way to maximize your vitamin and mineral intake.
Vegetable juice is all about proportion, but luckily there are usually only a few ingredient measurements to keep track of, and they are in easy units. Beetroot juice is four times more potent than carrot or tomato juice, so you want to dilute it with milder vegetables. For delicious beetroot juice, combine 1 small beetroot (peeled if the skin is thick) with 2 carrots and 1 celery stalk, all chopped.
For sweeter vegetable juice that kids will love, try adding fruit into the mix. Celery can be slightly bitter by itself, so combine 3 stalks of celery with 3 apples and ½ lemon. While apples and pears are staple fruits in vegetable juice, you can also get exotic with pineapple, cranberry, or kiwi. To combat a stomachache, try ½ head cabbage, 1 beet with greens, and 2 large kiwis.
Juice enthusiasts distinguish between sweeter mixed juices, which tend to be red and orange, and “green juices,” which feature leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, and parsley. These recipes may have a slightly stronger flavor than fruit-sweetened juices, but they pack a serious punch of vitamins and minerals. For extra potassium, try 2 carrots, 4 stalks of celery, 2 handfuls of spinach, and 1 handful of parsley.
The best part about vegetable juices is that they are made to be personalized. If you hate carrots, you can always substitute apples. If you just love cucumber, then try recipes that feature that cool vegetable.
The possibilities are endless, so get juicing! And be sure to share your own favorite recipes in the comments below!