Minty Fennel Green Juice

One thing I hate about juice recipes is that they always call for fruit and veg by the piece.  I find that this yields extremely inconsistent results.  I’m very plan oriented, and I need consistency to plan appropriately.  To combat this, I’ve started documenting the average weights of fruit and veg so that I can use weight in my recipes (or convert those I find to use weight instead).  That way I always get the same amount of juice from a recipe.  And no chaos ensues in my kitchen.  No, that never happens…   

When I buy all of my produce over the weekend, I’ll wash, cut, and bag all of the produce up individually so it’s ready to be weighed and juiced at any time, with limited prep required. I find this saves a lot of time and doesn’t change the quality of the juice or lessen the quantity.  And as much as I hate single use items and plastic bags, I do love using plastic zip top bags to store my produce.  It keeps it all very fresh, and the space they take up shrinks as I use up the produce.  I die a little inside every time I throw one away, but you choose your battles, I suppose. 

I find a lot of great recipes on the rebootwithjoe site, which is where I found this one (don’t ask me where, because I can’t find it now).  It called for handfuls and pieces and stalks, so I converted everything to ounces.  I made a couple substitutions.  I used orange instead of grapefruit, dandelion instead of kale, and I used all parts of my fennel (bulb, stems, and leaves). 

I found this to be extremely refreshing for a green juice.  Usually green juices are…uhh… well… pretty fucking nasty.  This was pleasantly sweet and minty.  I will definitely be adding this to my regular juice rotation. 

Here’s the recipe by weight and by piece, in case you’re a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of person. 

6.6 oz. orange (or 1 orange)

1 oz. mint (or 1 handful)
12 oz. celery stalks (or 6 stalks)
10 oz fennel bulb + 6 oz fennel stems/leaves (or 1 bulb fennel with all stalks and leaves)
1 lemon
16 oz. green apple (or 2-3 apples)
4 oz. dandelion greens (or ~1/2 bunch)

yields slightly more than 56 oz.

Cheers to good health!

Wondering about the nutritional value?  Here you go.  Want the TL;DR version?  This juice will give you super healthy blood, brain, bones, & skin, and might even help your vision. 

Dandelion greens give you a shit ton of vitamin K & A, a hefty amount of phosphorus, potassium, & calcium, and trace amounts of vitamin B & C, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and iron.  

Mint contains vitamin C, manganese, and copper.  Mint also aids in digestion and produces something called monoterpene which is said to slow tumor growth and prevent cancer formation in certain areas of the body. It also acts as an antioxidant and has antibacterial properties. 

Oranges, of course, contain vitamin C, but also vitamins A & B, potassium, and calcium. 

Celery contains vitamins A, B, C, K, and tons of minerals and antioxidants.  Celery also contains compounds which might help reduce nervousness and headaches. 

Fennel has quite a bit of potassium and vitamin C, and trace amounts of selenium and other minerals. The stems contain a solid mixture of B-complex vitamins. 

Apples contain B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and trace amounts of minerals. They also contain quercetin, which acts as a powerful antioxidant.