I didn't quite realise just how delicious the combination of fresh vegetable and fruit juice could be. I guessed the flavours might be more soup like than fruit like, but I was wrong. This juice tasted of citrus, lime flower, lemon and apple with a hint of cucumber. The spinach and parsley were not dominant flavours but including them gave the juice its deep, vibrant colour.
Juice mixes like this can only be made in a juicer. Start with the chopped lime and then add the lemongrass. Lemongrass is not juicy but it's aromatic flavours stay on the grating ring of the juicer and infuse the other juices as they pass through.
The liquid comes mainly from the cucumber and apples which form the base of the drink. The kiwi fruit was not essential but added sharpness and more liquid.
If you use cucumber, apple and lime as the base for a green drink you can use other ingredients available in your fridge such as broccoli, dark green lettuce, grapes, fresh mint. This is a juice to experiment with. In summer I will add lemon verbena, or perhaps, mint leaves when they are available.
This is the first green juice I have made and I love its potential. I can't wait to make it with the children who adore helping me juice and liquidise colourful fruit and veg.
I did have a couple of concerns about this multi ingredient drink. Juicing removes most of the valuable fibre from the fruit and vegetables. This is really important for our gut health and also helps to regulate blood lipids. But there are a lot of vital vitamins and minerals delivered in a shot of this drink. Think vitamins A,C and E; and minerals such as iron, potassium and calcium. All of these are really useful in our body for doing jobs like helping to regulate blood pressure. Sometimes I just think it is lovely to drink fresh food rather than eat it! This drink makes a really nice snack substitute. And of course it is hydrating.
The other concern I had was the cost. There are two ways of looking at this. This juice drink is expensive to make if you buy ingredients from scratch. However it can be made from leftover green fruit and vegetables. Sometimes I buy a bag of spinach for a risotto and don't use it all or I have kiwi fruit left over in the fruit bowl and don't feel like eating them. Making a juice with these marginals and leftovers is a much better idea than leaving them to languish in the fridge or in fruit bowl to be thrown away at the end of the week.
The ingredients for this juice work out at about £1.20 per 250 ml glass. Cheaper and fresher than if you bought them ready made off the shelf or in a juice bar.
½ lime
£0.15
1 stick lemongrass
£0.30
½ cucumber
£0.30
1 handful of baby spinach
£0.50
4 sprigs parsley
£0.20
1 kiwi fruit
£0.16
2 green apples
£0.63
Total 500 ml
£2.24
