Juice Cleanse....Two Great Raw Juice Recipes

I tend to do a cleanse once or twice a year. This is the first time it's a full-on juice cleanse, with no solid foods for 3 days. My friend and I are in this cleanse together. I made it 66 hours total, pretty close to the 72 hours I had committed. I've been keeping myself going on store-bought raw juices, coconut water, herbal tea, and a small amount of probiotics.

When I re-read that last sentence, I realized just how crazy this cleanse may be. Even though I'm an avid meat eater, there is something I love about eliminating everything but raw veggie and fruit juice for a few days. The challenge of making the smoothies taste good enough to satisfy my desire to eat keeps me going.

I make smoothies regularly, but they always have almond or rice milk in them. I'm using coconut water for the cleanse smoothies. As long as there is some avocado mixed in the texture is similar to the ones I usually make. Nice to know that I can eliminate the milk from the smoothie and not miss the flavor, but cut down on the calories.

The way I see it, if I can get in the habit of making one or two smoothies a day that are primarily veggies and good stuff, I can eat all the other stuff I love without worrying about getting all my nutrients in.

I do have to say that so far I feel great and very calm. That might just be because I'm a little crazy from not eating, but I think it has to do with giving my system a rest. Your body uses up a lot of energy trying to digest meats, grains and processed sugars. Eating this way always gives me perspective on how much and how often I eat or snack. It's a kickstart to remembering portion control and being more aware of my eating habits.

Not to worry, the mouthwatering meats, gluten and dairy free treats and all the other wonderful dishes I love to make will be back shortly. I'm sure to have a new appreciation for them!

Raw Beet, Avocado, Basil, Peach, Nectarine, Ginger, Cucumber, Celery Juice

Ingredients

• 1/2 avocado, skin removed, cut into chunks
• 1 small nectarine, pit removed, sliced
• 1 small peach, pit removed, sliced
• 1 beet, skin removed, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, cut into pieces
• 1 small cucumber, sliced
• 4 basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground ginger
• 1 cup coconut water
• Ice cubes

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender or drink mixer with a good blade.
2. Pulse on high until everything is chopped up.
3. If you want the juice to be thinner, add more coconut or regular water to the mix.

Raw Spinach, Carrot, Beet, Avocado, Peach, Strawberry and Banana Juice

Ingredients

• 1/2 avocado, skin removed, cut into chunks
• 15 to 20 spinach leaves (a small handful)
• 1 beet, skin removed, sliced
• 2 carrots, skin removed, cut into rounds
• 1 small peach, pit removed, sliced
• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 strawberries, hulled, sliced
• lime juice (about 1/4 of a lime)
• 1 cup coconut water
• Ice cubes

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender or drink mixer with a good blade.
2. Pulse on high until everything is chopped up.
3. If you want the juice to be thinner, add more coconut or regular water to the mix.

Enjoy!

Almond Milk Rice Pudding with Strawberries and Basil

I love this recipe. It is super easy and so delicious.

The combination of the sweet strawberries and the savory, delicate floral quality of the basil tastes like summer to me.  There was always a basil plant on my mother's windowsill in the summer. My grandfather grew strawberries that would twine around a trellis on the side of his garage. Using almond milk in the rice pudding brings a fresh unexpected taste and a lighter texture. Combining all of these flavors, textures and scents just brings me back to my childhood summer of family and fun.

Almond Milk Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 2 cups almond milk, unflavored
• 1 cup water
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Method

1. Put the rice, almond milk, water, cinnamon and sugar into a large pot and stir to mix.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir once, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan.
3. Cook for 12 minutes on low heat.
4. Turn off the heat, stir the mixture once and return the cover to the pot.
5. Let site for 8 minutes covered.
6. Serve with basil marinated strawberries (recipe below).

Basil Marinated Strawberries

Ingredients

• 4 basil leaves minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large strawberries cut into pieces

Method

1. Put basil, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the basil simple syrup over the strawberries and let them sit for five minutes.
4. Serve on top of the almond milk rice pudding.

Leek and Cremini Mushroom Soup

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

I decided to give leeks another try this week. I've not always been a huge fan, as you can see from this post. But, I'm growing up (about time) and decided I needed to give the mighty leek another chance.

My chance came when I walked through my local farmer's market this weekend and spied a pile of leeks. Now was as good a time as any to give this a go. Right next to the leeks, I spotted some lovely cremini mushrooms for sale. I thought for a moment and knew that I could make a good soup out of these, with some little additions from my kitchen.

I chose to enhance the cremini mushroom flavor with mushroom broth. And, I used bread to thicken the soup, as I've done many times in other soups. I figured this way, the flavor of the leeks and mushrooms would really take center stage.

The soup, I must say, came out pretty tasty. It's very simple to make, since all you're really doing is cooking the cut up leeks in broth while you saute the mushrooms in oil. Not much too it, but the flavors are really nice and earthy. Very Spring-is-in-the-air type of dish.

This recipe has proven to me that I need to not be so stubborn about my likes and dislikes and at least get creative with an ingredient I had long-ago written off.

Long live the might leek.

Leek Soup

Cook’s note:  The recipe can be easily double or tripled, dependent on the amount of people you are feeding. 1 cup of leeks was the equivalent of two medium sized leeks cut into rounds.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of leeks, cut into rounds
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 cup mushroom broth
• ½ tablespoon minced basil leaves, or ¼ tablespoon dried basil
• 1 slice gluten-free sandwich bread, cubed (I like Udi's)
• 1/3 cup cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

• Place the vegetable stock over high heat in a large saucepan.
• Add the leeks and boil until soft, about 20 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add the sandwich bread to the soup. It should thicken the soup right up.
• While the leeks are cooking, sautee the cremini mushrooms in the olive oil with some salt, over medium heat until crispy.
• Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
• Put the soup, basil and oil from the mushroom pan into a blender and blend until smooth.
• Serve the soup in bowls with the crispy mushrooms on top.