Fresh Apple Beet Juice

Our town's juice bar just closed. One of our favorite things to do on Saturdays was to go to the local market for a few items, & get a fresh juice at the same time. We made one final stop a few weeks ago on their last day open, & have been thinking about it since.

When I found myself with some extra produce, I decided it was time to try our juicer again. My mom gave us her old one & we had used it once, then put it away. I brought it up from the basement to try again.

It's fun to put in the chunks of fruit/veggies & watch the juice & pulp come out in 2 different spots. Juicers are pretty amazing!

Fresh juice is a great way to pack in vitamins & minerals from fresh produce without all of the bulk. Your body is easily able to assimilate the nutrients in juice form. While you wouldn't usually sit down & eat several fruits & veggies in one sitting, it's easy to drink them all.

It is a good idea to use organic produce when juicing. Since you are ingesting so many items at once, the pesticide content is more concentrated. If it's not possible to get all organic, at least try to buy organic for the Dirty Dozen. (For this recipe, the apples are highest in pesticides.)

My favorite part about fresh juice? The foam on top.

Just look at it! All frothy & delicious.

This particular juice is fairly sweet, perfect for beginning juicers. Although I think some cabbage or romaine lettuce would be great additions, we didn't have either to add. The lemon adds a nice tartness & the apples add enough sweet to counter the earthiness of the beets. The combination also produces such a pretty color of pink!

Fresh Apple Beet Juice

3 small beets
3 medium carrots
1 large apple
1 lemon

Trim stems from beets & carrots. Peeling is not necessary. Chop each into chunks small enough to fit into your juicer. Remove stem & seeds from the apple; chop into quarters. Peel the lemon & divide into quarters.

Feed chunks into the juicer, following juicer instructions. Drink immediately. Reserve pulp for future use or compost it.

If you do not have a juicer, you can still make fresh juice! Just use your blender to combine all of the ingredients & then strain through a cheesecloth, squeezing to release all of the juices. You could also make a smoothie, if you don't want to bother with straining.