Whether it's bottled on a Whole Foods shelf or squeezed on the spot in a wheatgrass-filled storefront, a fancy juice can set you back six dollars or more in most markets, making even your Starbucks addiction look cheap in comparison. Couple that with the fact that juicing has never been more popular or ubiquitous, and you could easily spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year on your juice habit.
Unless, maybe, you juice at home. After the initial juicer purchase—good ones run as low as $99, or about 10 store-bought juices—DIY juicing can easily be the best option for your wallet. And as Eric Helms, founder of Juice Generation and the Cooler Cleanse, attests in his new book The Juice Generation: 100 Recipes for Fresh Juices and Superfood Smoothies, it's often the most enjoyable.
I recently went to a hands-on juicing demo with Helms and his team to learn how to do just that. “If you have time to toast a bagel, you have time to make a juice,” Helms assured me. Here, the best tips I picked up, a selection of juicers at all price points, and Blake Lively, Michelle Williams, and Hillary Swank’s favorite juice recipes:
• Buying produce: According to Helms, $20 per week should get you enough produce to make one glass of juice everyday. Buy several large handfuls of greens, some apples, and whatever additional produce you’d like to add for variety. Organic and locally grown is best, but if you can’t afford it, be sure to use a good produce wash on conventionally grown veggies. According to the book, buy the following items organic whenever possible, since they tend to have the most chemicals when grown conventionally: apples, carrots, cherries, grapes, lettuce, pears, strawberries, bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, peaches, spinach, kale, chard, collard greens.
• Understanding the difference between juice and a smoothie: I asked this stupid question so you don’t have to. In a smoothie, you’re essentially eating all of whatever you’ve just ground up in your blender. When you juice, the fiber and pulp gets pulled out and separated. The result? Smoothies are more filling and more caloric. “Blended drinks are more of a meal replacement,” Helms says. “Juices are more about supplementing your diet, not for substituting as a meal.”
• Making green juice taste better: This has always been my biggest complaint about juice – it just doesn’t taste as good as say, Diet Coke. But my personal juice chef at the event gave me two tricks to make bitter greens, which are loaded with nutrients and vitamins, taste a lot better. He crumbled up a few mint leaves into a mixture of spinach and kale and it really cut the bitterness. Apples are also great for adding some sweetness, and if you really have a sweet tooth, add pineapple. You can then slowly change the ratio of green to sweet as needed until you can tolerate more hard-core green juices. Try one of these celebrity recipes:
Blake Lively's Intoxicating Detoxification Recipe:
1 cup kale
2 leaves swiss chard
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 small beet
1/2 cup pineapple
2 medium green apples
1 sprig fresh mint
1/2 medium lemon
Michelle Williams's Leafy Green Goodness Recipe:3 leaves kale
1 cup spinach
2 leaves Swiss chard
4 medium apples
1/2 medium lemon, peeled
Hillary Swank’s Daily Detox Recipe:
5 medium carrots
1/4 medium cucumber
1 medium apple
1 inch fresh gingerroot, peeled
1/2 medium lemon, peeled
• Finally, choosing a juicer: Helms says you don’t need to spend a lot on a fancy version, but you should understand the lingo. The most expensive and most high maintenance one is a hydraulic press, which is how companies get “cold pressed” juices. They’re generally for pros only. “Masticating” juicers, which “chew” up the produce, and “hydraulic” juicers, which mash and spin the produce, are your best bets for home use. Masticators are generally easier to clean, but take longer to make juice.
Jack Lalanne’s Power Juicer, $99.99: An entry level juicer that Helms recommends for beginners.
Omega Mega Mouth Juicer, $149: This centrifugal style juicer is reasonably priced and gets consistently good reviews.
Breville Juice Fountain Multi-Speed, $199: Breville has different models, from a compact, space-saving edition to a commercial quality juicer. Gets rave reviews consistently from juicing enthusiasts.
Via ELLE.com
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