Food waste sucks. I could write an entire piece that you’ve probably already read in some way on how our for system wastes a lot of food. Instead, let’s talk solutions. In previous articles I’ve talked about freezing produce before it goes bad for things like crisps and smoothies. Or if it’s produce past its prime, using composting as a solution instead of going to a landfill. But there’s also this weird in-between stage where you find yourself left with one carrot, a pear that’s about to become liquid and six grapes. What do you do with the pieces of stuff that are still good but aren’t a quantity in which you can make a full side dish? You juice it.
Now please note…I say juicing, but it doesn’t even have to be with a juicer. A blender and a nut milk bag or cheesecloth works well too. These recipes can be done with a high-powered blender of your choosing with a straining method or a juicer.
To keep these recipes as relatable as possible, I looked at the Produce Marketing Association’s list of top 20 produce items purchased by Americans and embellished with other fridge items like herbs and ginger. But the best part of these recipes is that really, they can be tweaked to fit what you have.
If you have an orange, it would be great with the carrot cayenne juice recipe. Have a grapefruit? Throw it in with the ginger beet juice! A juice is easy to tweak by simply adding one more produce item to the blender or juicer.
Be creative. It’s easy to ‘fix’ a juice that goes awry with a little more acid (citrus) or sweet (beet, carrot, fruits).
And one last note before you go: to me, temperature and serving vessel matter. I like my juices cold (pour over ice) and yep, I like a straw because I can say with a relative degree of certainty, I’ll stain whatever I’m wearing with beets. You just might find that a specific glass makes green juice more of a pleasing ritual served along with a nice pat on the back for not wasting something. It works for kids with fun shaped plates and you’d be wrong if you said it didn’t work for adults in the same way. Shout out to the bistro glasses I’m using in the beet juice photo for being stackable and space conscious in our kitchen. It makes me just as happy as six-year-old Carlene with a cat-shaped plate.
Here are three recipes for combinations of the most commonly purchased produce items and how to juice them so they don’t go to waste.
The Green Juice
Ingredients
- 2 peeled lemons
- 2 large celery stalks
- 2 small cucumbers
- .5 bunch kale (about 7 leaves)
- 1 handful of watercress or lettuce of any kind
- 1 small handful of herbs on hand like dill, mint or parsley (I used all three)
Instructions
- Juice using your preferred juicing method (juicer or high-powered blender with straining method).
Nutrition
The Orange Juice
Ingredients
- 4 small carrots
- 3 apples
- pinch of cayenne pepper added after straining/juicing
Instructions
- Juice using your preferred juicing method (juicer or high-powered blender with straining method).
Nutrition
The Red Juice
Ingredients
- .25 red cabbage (core removed)
- 2 pears (I used Anjou)
- 2 small beets (tops removed)
- 1.5 inches of ginger
Instructions
- Juice using your preferred juicing method (juicer or high-powered blender with straining method).
Nutrition
