Summer Ades

Here are some things people think about juicing: it's expensive; it's messy; it's not as good for you as eating the whole vegetable or fruit that you are juicing; and above all else, even if it's "good for you" it tastes gross. 

While I can't say that I have held any of those opinions myself, I do understand why people are more drawn to smoothies than juices. Smoothies are creamy, sweet, filling, and for the most part do not involve things like parsely and kale. They are easier to philosophically stomach. Plus, you only have to clean a blender. But once you buy a juicer, and adapt to scrubbing pulp out of all its parts with a toothbrush, you may find your blender collecting dust in the corner and smoothies falling to the wayside.

Here are some things that I like about making fresh, organic juices at home: it's a great way to use oversized or overabundant produce (like carrots, cucumbers, apples, herbs); it's way cheaper than buying fresh squeezed or pressed juices at grocery stores or juice bars; you get several servings of fruits and vegetables in a single glass; you get to experiment and play with ingredients until you find the perfect combinations of flavors that you love so nothing is ever too sweet, too bitter, or gross. Plus my juicer has never popped its top while running at high speed, covering me and my kitchen in a pulpy mess. It's just not built that way.

Lastly, and perhaps best of all, it is an amazing way of essentially bathing your digestive system from the inside with minerals and vitamins. When you make a fresh pressed juice you remove nearly all of the fiber allowing your body to almost immediately absorb the nutrients and minerals from the ingredients you juiced and put them to use. This removal of fiber is one reason not to replace ALL of your vegetable and fruit intake each day with juices. You need fiber too. But adding a fresh pressed juice to your day will majorly bump up your vitamin and mineral consumption without adding tons of calories overall. 

I am an advocate for a green juice first thing in the morning so that no matter what else happens, you know you got some good stuff into your body. But I also love a quick, hydrating, sweet treat of a juice, especially in the summer months. I like to think of these juices (and spritzer) as gateway juices. They are simple to make, delicious to drink, taste sweet without being high in sugar, and don't even require a juicer. You can make them in the blender and strain them through a fine mesh sieve or drink them as a thick juice/thin smoothie to get the fiber content as well. I particularly love them after a sweaty workout or as an afternoon pick-me-up in place of coffee. Who knows, after a few weeks you may find yourself chucking a handful of kale in there too. 

p.s. check out some cool nutritional info on these ingredients below

*Note: It is always important to choose organic vegetables and fruits whenever possible and I think even more so when juicing. Think of it this way: do you want to bathe your organs from the inside with pesticides? Enough said.

Pineapple, Ginger, Cucumber Juice

about 2-4 cups pineapple, cubed

1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks

1-inch piece of ginger, peeled

If using a juicer, start with the pineapple, then the cucumber and finish with the ginger. You always want to start with the softest ingredient and end with the hardest or most fibrous. There shouldn't be much pulp left over but if you really want a thin juice then pour it through a sieve into a glass. 

If using a blender, pour all the ingredients in at once, blend at high speed until liquified and strain (or not).

Watermelon, Lime, Mint Juice

1/2 seedless watermelon, cubed

1 lime, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup fresh mint

If using a juicer, start with the watermelon, follow with the lime and end with the mint. Strain or enjoy as is. This one is also really good over ice.

If using a blender, place watermelon and mint in the blender and instead of peeling the lime just cut it in half and squeeze both halves over the melon and mint. Blend at high speed until liquified. Strain (or not) and enjoy as is or over ice.

Apple Cider Vinegar Spritz
2 T Raw, unfiltered, apple cider vinegar
8-12oz sparkling water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
ice

No blender or juicer needed for this one. Just place ice in a large glass, add the vinegar, squeeze in the lemon juice, and top with sparkling water. 

What These Foods Do

Pineapple: Detoxifier, diuretic, helps cool the body when overheated, helps expel mucous, full of acids which closely mimic human gastric juices and which greatly aid in digestion.

Cucumber: Alkaline, cooling, diuretic, rich in minerals that neutralize acidosis in the blood, help dissolve uric acid accumulations (kidney & bladder stones), contains the digestive enzyme erepsin which helps digest proteins, very high in potassium which helps regulate blood pressure, aids in calcium absorption, high in vitamin A.

Ginger: Virtues extolled here

Watermelon: Some info here

Apple Cider Vinegar: When unfiltered and unpasteurized, contains up to 50 different nutrients, amino acids and trace elements. Helps counteract lactic acid buildup in the blood, is rich in potassium, helps alleviate joint pain, fluid retention, and sodium retention. Contains malic acid (from apples) which is a digestive stimulant. So basically, drink it daily. 

TIME OUT!

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone for your comments and notes about my last post. It was my first really personal post and I was feeling a little shy about it. The immediate outpouring of positive responses was so encouraging and much appreciated. Please keep letting me know what you enjoy reading about!

So I had this long and nuanced post planned for this week about how stress correlates to illness and about how to seek balance in our lives and about seasonality and a few other things. Finally I realized I had written an overly verbose version of something quite simple that I want to say.

Here it is: I AM CALLING A TIME OUT.

I'm calling it for me and I'm calling it for you because chances are, you aren't calling it for yourself. It's a time out from To-Do Lists, from emails, from chores, and most importantly, from anything that involves the phrase "I should". We spend so much time running around trying to maximize our efficiency, and no matter how productive we are there is still this mounting pressure to do more, do better, and do it faster. Well not right now.

Right now it's tea time. 

Pull out your favorite mug, sit down and put your feet up. Maybe read a book, or better yet, do nothing more than admire your wool-clad toes and let the tea and the time do their work. You deserve it. I know you do.

Masala Chai

I won't bother to write a recipe here because I barely adapted it at all from one of my favorite blogs, Yummy Supper. I used almond milk, upped the amount of cardamom because I love it, and decided not to sweeten the tea but to add a little rose water which I find particularly calming when I am out of sorts.

I chose Masala Chai because when I traveled in India with my friend Rachel it was this sweet, milky, hot beverage that got us through each day. It revived us after 36 hour train rides, unnerving interactions on the street, the confusion of Indian bureaucracy and the general nerve-fraying experiences of traveling in a country that big, that crowded, and that stimulating (and thus draining).

Ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and star anise all have a mild stimulant effect which is at once comforting and rejuvenating. These spices warm the body, aid digestion, and help restore sharpness and focus to a fatigued mind.

Rosemary Tea, Beating the Summer Blues

I wrote off Rosemary long ago. As a culinary herb I always thought of it as overpowering and old fashioned. I associated it with mediocre restaurant potatoes in all their forms: gluey, under-salted and mashed; dry, under-salted and roasted; boiled, under-salted and swimming in a floury, rosemary-flecked "au jus". Even in its fresh form in neat, rail straight, supermarket bundles it never appealed.

Then I moved from Maine to northern California and so began my romance with rosemary. The bush grows everywhere here, in gnarled unkempt hedges, weaving under and around whatever else dares to plant roots near by, and in thick orderly rows in front yards and back yards. I have fallen in love with the plant and its intoxicating scent, its purple blooms in the late winter, and its hardiness, its persistence and presence in all of the "seasons" we experience here.

I was delighted, then, to discover while reading the amazing book Whole Foods Companion, that rosemary is one of the most powerful medicinal herbs you can find. Most notably, it is said to alleviate depression, generally improve mood, and eliminate negativity of all kinds. I mean, who can't use a little negativity elimination from time to time? I love summer. But as the heat cranks up in wine country, so do the crowds of tourists, so do the social demands, and so do the work hours. So while it may seem counterintuitive to get seasonal blues when the sun is out and the tan is on, I have been finding myself in need of a little extra pick me up, a little positivity, and something to cool and to bolster.

                        

Rosemary plants for sale outside of the Green String Farmstand

Rosemary tea is easy to make. Put a few sprigs in a covered glass jar and leave it out in the sun all day, or throw the herb into a pot of just boiled water, let it steep, and drink up. Lately, as the temperature creeps up above 100 degrees here, I have been brewing it strong, storing it in large bottles in the fridge, and drinking it over ice with some fresh mint muddled in the bottom.

Other Benefits of Rosemary
-Stimulates memory, helps overcome mental fatigue & opens the conscious mind
-Improves liver & gall function
-Improves circulation
-Strengthens & tones the stomach muscles
-Can be used topically to help with skin conditions or in a bath to speed recovery of slow healing wounds
-The tea can be used as a hair wash to stimulate growth, detangle, and treat dandruff

Iced Rosemary Tea (stove brew) 

makes 4 servings (you can drink this all day long for ongoing benefits) 

3 or 4 good size sprigs of fresh rosemary, rinsed

4 cups of water

fresh mint (optional)

honey or light agave to sweeten (optional)

Bring 4 cups of water to boil. Turn water off, add rosemary sprigs, cover and let steep at least 10 minutes. The longer you steep, the greater the medicinal value as more essential oil transfers from the leaves into the tea. * Drink hot or chill in a glass or metal bottle in the fridge. Bruise, tear or muddle the mint leaves and drop in the bottom of glass. Add ice and sweetener if desired, pour chilled tea into glass and drink up!

*note: the stronger the tea gets, the pinker it becomes. It will take on a more medicinal taste as it gets stronger but it can always be diluted with cold or hot water, lemon juice, soda water, or another herbal tea.

Source for claims on medicinal uses and benefits of rosemary:
Onstad, Dianne. Whole Foods Companion. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2004. Originally printed in 1992.