Green Apple, Carrot, Celery & Tomato Juice

THE FRUITS & GREENS OF THE EARTH

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The greens of the ground and the fruits of the earth, brought forth in season unfailingly each year, are God’s unique ways of providing us with the nutrients we need.

Lush green pastures and fruit trees heavy with the ripeness and aromas of their fruits, are all reflections of the greatness of their creator, who, upon making them, “saw that it was good”.

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Some weeks ago, Juan and I visited a good friend, Luisa, at her countryside house when we were staying at a ranch called “La Rica” in the Argentina countryside.

One of the things we were amazed by was how beautiful it was to have a garden so large you could literally have your own mini-plantation of fruit trees, fresh herbs and vegetables.

From fragrant grapefruits to an orange fruit whose name escapes my knowledge..

To pretty little cherry tomatoes swaying in the wind..

And large pomegranates whose ripeness weighed down their branches..

As well as fresh aromatic herbs like rosemary..

There were just so many different types of foods being grown in her garden!

I suppose seeing all these fresh fruits and vegetables hanging off their branches at such close distance stirred up something in me to return to consuming foods which are more natural.

When I first announced my resolution to stay away from soft drinks last week, declaring to drink healthier, more natural ones such as the grapefruit, orange and lemon cooler I told you about, I never quite imagined that I would within the very same day learn a completely new concept I’m still anxious but nervous about trying.

You’d think I would have embraced all kinds of vegetables and fruits without any problems by now, and you’re right. I love fruits and vegetables – I just don’t eat them as much as I should.

And life has its way of surprising us when we least expect it.

Such as when go to your favorite food blog and see, instead of a post on some recipe with meat and other types of delicious calories,  a testimony of how three days of juice fasting has been just incredibly amazing.

Juice-fasting – it was the first time I’d ever heard of this concept and it wowed me and blew me away.

Apparently Shanna and Tim just drank juices of all kinds for three days straight – giving themselves a wonderful body detox and allowing themselves to absorb all the nutritious value of fresh fruits and vegetables.

It felt like Shanna was speaking directly to my desire to drink better, healthier beverages.

I don’t mean energy drinks like Speed or Redbull that give you a high from the high dose of caffeine.  I mean rich, vitamin-filled juices stuffed with nutrients from freshly squeezed fruits and blended vegetables, combined to create the most amazing tastes and concoctions, chockfull of goodness and naturally-delicious ingredients.

So you can imagine that right after I read Shanna’s post on Friday afternoon, I toyed with the idea of a juice fast for the entire day.

Come Saturday morning, I still haven’t warmed up completely to the idea of a complete juice fast (without eating any food), but I was definitely prepped to start drinking freshly blended juices.

After some pleading on my part, Juan did me the favor of heading to the market to get fresh vegetables and fruits, saving me the trouble from changing out of my pajamas.

He soon returned with a whole tray of vegetables and fruits so fresh you could smell their fragrances and almost breathe in their beauty, and  excitement started to bubble inside me.

It would be the first time I would drink vegetables – although the concept of fruit juice definitely isn’t foreign to me. But to mix them with savory vegetables, some of which even possess a spicy taste, was completely, refreshingly new.

It was…liberating.

The sweetness of ripe green apples, combined with the savory-sweetness of carrots and tomatoes, infused with a gentle spicy kick from celery, was a taste unlike any I have ever known.

I couldn’t stop drinking it for the next two days.

Thankfully, I had made enough to last me that long. Of course, it would be best if you drank the juice immediately after blending them to retain as much of its nutritious value as possible, but in the case that you would prefer to make a large batch to last a few days, its fibrous content also does wonders for your digestive system.

I’d like to experiment with different types of fruit and vegetable juices this year. Am so excited! Do you have any favorite combinations of fruits and vegetable juices to share? Please share them with me!

Meanwhile, happy juicing!

GREEN APPLE, CARROT, CELERY & TOMATO JUICE
(Makes 8 large cups)

Ingredients:
1)    1 large bowl of roughly chopped celery (including the leaves)
2)    2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3)    3 green apples, de-seeded and roughly chopped
4)    2 ripe red tomatoes
5)    500ml of cold water
6)    4 tablespoons of sugar (or more to taste)

Steps:
1)    Wash and roughly chop the vegetables and fruits
2)    Fill a blender with the chopped ingredients till it is half-full (you will have to do several batches)
3)    Add in 100ml of water
4)    Pulse several times until juice achieves the desired consistency (I like mine more liquid)
5)    Once all the fruits and vegetables have been blended, combine all the juice together and add sugar, mixing well until all sugar is dissolved
6)    Drink immediately or keep chilled in fridge until ready to serve

Fresh fruits & vegetables:

Fill a blender with chopped ingredients, add water and pulse:

Until juice achieves the desired consistency: