Lately, I’ve been indulging in cookbook reads many revolving around clean eats, one of my latest purchases has been Clean Slate, a cookbook and guide – Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body and Feel Your Best – from the editors of martha stewart living.
In the book, they approach the modern idea of clean eating as reverting to the old ways, making meals from scratch and even snacks; with the freshest produce, vegetables, meats, grains you have available at your disposal. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing as far as I can (5 days a week, weekends excluded so I have some breathing room) with tayste the site and my own eating habits.
Which brings me straight into my series – this summer detox series in the works (we are starting with my favourite slow-pressed juice which I drink for breakfast) is exactly a short term fix for anyone who wants to reset, restart, clean up, digest better for whatever reason you may have. For some, it may be a bikini challenge, for others it may be to boost energy and combat illness. If you can stick to the program, I can say you will feel much like the best version of yourself, minus the brain fog and low energy!
Doing this 2 to 3 days out of the week – same type of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days (over the course of one or two weeks) will really help your system do a quick reboot. If you aren’t at home to cook any of the meals yourself, just stick to the principles of a quick reboot.
“Which are eating as many coloured plant foods as you can to drive liver detoxification,” according to Kathy Madonna Swift, an integrative medical nutritionist.
(You may want to also note that, you need to rest adequately whilst trying this out – sleeping at least 7 to 8 hours a day for maximum benefit, don’t start this too if you aren’t feeling well, exercising intensively or are breastfeeding or have any medical conditions that need preapproval with a doctor before beginning any short diets).
And so starting with this juice recipe that I personally drink in the week, let’s begin.
What you will need in equipment investment – a slow juicer (I use a Hurom), or a blender (I much prefer you use a slow juicer or invest in one as the juices don’t oxidize as quickly, since there is no blade/heat that does that to the vegetables/fruits). And a couple of tall glass jars (I like the Weck ones) for storing the juices.
The beautiful plethora of vegetables/fruits/herbs Left to right: Local cucumbers, NZ red apples, coriander/chinese parsley, celery, dark spinach Centre: tangerines
A quick look at the health benefits of:
Apples – quercetin in apples can boost and fortify your immune system. Apples can help with liver detoxification, weight control, protect against brain related diseases such as alzheimers and parkinsons. There is good reason why the old saying still stands, “one apple a day keeps the doctor away”.
Celery – provides antioxidant and anti-inflammatory support, stress relief (the minerals in celery especially magnesium, soothe the nervous system), regulates the body’s alkaline balance, aids digestion, reduces bad cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and also inhibits/delays certain cancers such as pancreatic and breast cancer because of the flavonoid called luteolin.
Coriander – aids skin inflammation, skin disorders, lowers cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, high iron content helps anemia, anti-histamine properties reduce seasonal allergies/rhinitis. Dodecanal, a natural compound twice as strong as antibiotics can protect against Salmonella/food poisoning.
Cucumber – key vegetable for rehydration, expelling heat inside and out, flushing out toxins, aids in weight loss, gives you bright eyes, and a host of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, silicon.
Spinach – excellent source of magnesium (you can read more here about this energy producing mineral in a previous post I did), iron, aids gastrointestinal health, heart health, protects from free radicals and it’s flavonoid compounds protect against cancer.
Tangerines – high in Vitamin C (essential for collagen synthesis, wound healing, colds/flus prevention), Vitamin A and flavonoids, (in fact the antioxidant flavonoids present in tangerines are several times higher than in oranges, reach for a tangerine the next time you eat a citrus fruit!)
Don’t forget to peel your cucumbers before you begin juicing!
All cut up and ready for slow juicing in my Hurom slow juicer. One side expels the fibre (which you can eat if you like, and the other the juice).
Eat with a golden kiwi for a quick breakfast!
The recipe makes a few tall Weck jars of juice, 3 to 4 depending on the size of your fruit. If using a slow juicer, you can keep the juice for 2 to 3 days in the fridge without any issues. If using a blender, I would recommend drinking the juice within the same day and using only a quarter of the mentioned, vegetables, fruits, and herbs if you are feeding two persons.
Happy summer holidays and it’s really time to reset, refresh and be happy!
Reset refresh breakfast green cleanser
Serves 2 (over 2 to 3 days)
Makes 3 to 4 WECK JARS (approx 0.5 litres per jar)
Gluten Free, Vegan
Ingredients
equipment – slow juicer/blender, glass juice jars
2 apples
1 bunch celery
1 bunch coriander
3 cucumbers
1 bunch dark spinach
2 tangerines
Instructions
Wash all the mentioned ingredients throughly.
Peel the cucumbers and tangerines. Cut the ends of the coriander. You may zest the tangerines and use them for another purpose.
Cut everything up small enough to fit the slow juicer.
Juice everything.
Once juiced, store in the Weck glass jars. Keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
Tayste Tips
If using a blender – reduce the ingredient quantity by half. This depends on how many persons are drinking.
Also, if using a blender the juice needs to be consumed within the same day.