Posts Tagged With: juicing

Top Tips and Health Benefits of Juicing plus Kale, Beetroot and Green Pepper Juice Recipe

Posted on July 19, 2015 by leroy watson

Beetroot, Kale and Green Pepper Juice

Here is your five a day in just a few gulps! Juicing is the easiest way of supercharging your day and getting loads of shining fruits and veggies into your diet.

I love experimenting with new flavour combos in our morning juice. What do we have available and will they sing together in a glass?! This one is backed up by a hit of ginger and lemon (whole, the zest is awesome in many ways), apples, carrots and a handful of mint. Its a feast and a massive wake up call to the immune system. When you juice, you can forget about the need for expensive supplements, vitamin pills etc. Nothing can compete with a fresh juice. Juicing also helps in weight loss and makes you much sexier!!!

SUPERCHARGE YOUR DAY

Our favourite way to start any day is a glass of freshly made juice. It just seems to make perfect sense. Our bodies have just woken from (hopefully) a nice long sleep, when we have basically been fasting for many hours. We’re dehydrated and a little depleted, we need a serious boost of something nutritious and preferably, charged with vitality and vibrant flavours. Juicing is the easiest way to get loads of essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, enzymes etc) down the hatch, very easy on the digestion and we can feel the benefit soon after. Energy levels rise and we get a healthy glow about us.

The contents of this juice are a sign that things are really flying now this summer. You could call this our ‘Veg Box Nectar’, basically whatever we get from the farm in a juicer with a little consideration for overall flavour. Really though, all these sensational veggies and fruits cannot taste bad in a glass. There are probably a few guidelines to a good juice; go easy on the cabbage, turnip or swede, too much whole citrus (with pith on) can be a little challenging.

We always try to add greens, like Kale, Chard or Spinach, to our juices as they are the bodies best friend. Greens contain so many amazing nutrients, not to mention things like protein, calcium, iron….the list goes on and on. They also contain bags of chlorophyll which helps the liver detox and purifies and rebuilds blood cells, also helping with high blood pressure. Eating a lot of greens regularly, daily if possible, is our number one suggestion for staying healthy and feeling amazing.

TOP JUICING TIPS

EAT YOUR FRUIT AND JUICE YOUR VEGGIES – As a basic rule, this works a treat. Many fruits are high in sugar and unless they are packed with fibre, can make your blood sugar levels rocket. Its best to drink a balanced juice, with sweet fruits as a sweetener and not a base. Some root vegetables can also be high in sugar, worth bearing in mind. Having said that, a pure fruit juice is an awesome treat!

PREP WELL – Get everything cut down to size and peeled (if needed) before you start. This will make juicing a breeze. We always fill our juicer shoot up (wide funnel juicers are best) before turning the machine on, this is more efficient. Wash up before you drink the juice, for some reason, this seems to make it less of a chore!? Not juicing because of the washing up is a very poor show.

DON’T HANG AROUND! – Juices are highly perishable and are best drank as soon as possible to get maximum flavour and health benefits.

REASONS TO GET JUICY

INTENSE NUTRIENTS – Juicing condenses down produce into a glass, you can cram so much goodness into a juice. One glass can contain 5 carrots, 3 apples, 1 lemon, 5 kale leaves…….whatever your imagination can come up with! To eat all of those in one sitting would take a long time and lot of chewing….

DIGESTION – Juices take almost no digestive energy, meaning the body is getting loads of nutrients and expending very little in return. That energy can be used for other things like replenishing and rejuvenating.

LOSE WEIGHT, LOOK GOOD – Juices can really help here, accompanied by a good, balanced diet (we’d of course recommend a vegan diet) and regular exercise. The intense nutrient hit you get from juicing helps keep the skin shining and hair and nails strong, it will also help to make you feel and look younger.

WHICH JUICER?

There are two main types of juicers, cold press or centrifugal. We have always used a centrifugal juicer and if they are well made and powerful, produce good results and extract plenty of juice (you can check this by pressing out the waste pulp – this pulp can be made into tasty burgers or muffins).

Centrifugal juicers basically extracted the juice using a spinning blade. Cold press (or masticating) juicers normally extract more juice and at low temperature, maintaining all of the nutrient content. They are quieter and can be used to make nut milks, however, they are more expensive.

We’ve tried out many juicers and our favourites are Sage. They sent us a juicer over a year ago and its been brilliant since then. Very well made, easy to clean and powerful. They are not the cheapest, but if you are serious about getting into juicing, its well worth the investment.

First Summer Strawberries

BERRY NICE SUMMER:)

We just ate our first wild strawberries from the garden and they were so sweet. The song ‘Summer Wine’ by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra sprang to mind. A classic with a proper retro video. Lee knows how to wear a moustache! A perfect tune for strawberry munching in the sun. Jane and I have been playing it recently on guitar and it’s a cheeky tune that makes people smile. The raspberries are coming at Trigonos and we’ve been inundated with gorgeous gooseberries (so sweet) and blackcurrants (potently purple). This time of year is just one long celebration of sensational seasonal produce, even the cauliflowers are making an appearance!

FAT, SICK AND NEARLY DEAD

This documentary came out a while back and has influenced loads of people and certainly spread the good juicing word around the globe. Going on a juice fast can have wonderful health benefits, incredible transformations, as highlighted by the personal stories in this film. Some friends of ours are going to try it out, although a shorter version, it will be interesting to see the results. Jane and I feel that juice fasts can be an incredibly cleansing and revitalising opportunity, although we’d not recommend carrying them on for too long. Juicing does take fibre out of your fruits and veggies and we love fibre in the BHK. Its essential for maintaining good health and digestion.

Along with a healthy balanced diet, juicing can be a brilliant habit to get into, the benefits of which are best experienced to be believed!!!!

Here’s a recipe for a seriously tasty juice, full of zing and good things:

The Bits – For 2

3 kale leaves (with stems)

3 large carrots (scrubbed)

1-2 inch fresh ginger (peeled – with a teaspoon is easiest)

2 large apples (halved)

1 large beetroot (scrubbed – with leaves if you’ve got any)

1 green pepper (deseeded and halved)

1 small lemon (whole)

Do It

Pop all into a high speed juicer, leaves first, then ginger and lemon. The carrot and apple will flush everything through.

Serve

In your favourite glass (or jars if you are trendy, or poor, or both) with a smile.

Foodie Fact

Beetroots are in the same family as chard and spinach. The beetroot leaves (greens) are exceptionally high in iron, calcium, vitamin A and C.

Many athletes are now getting into beetroots. Apparently it lowers muscle fatigue and is of course, amazingly nutritious with huge amounts of beta carotene and a good hit of sugar to keep you well fuelled for a workout. Beetroot is also ideal for detoxing, as it kick started the detox process in the liver. Ideal for a morning juice.

TOP BEET TIP – If you have beetroot fingers, all purple, try rubbing some lemon juice over them. This helps. Or wear gloves in the first place.

Categories: Breakfast, Detox, Healthy Living, Juices, Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: beetroot, health, juicer, juicing, music, nutrients, raw | 11 Comments

Juicer Pulp Burgers with Seitan, Miso and a Polenta and Sesame Crumb

Posted on October 23, 2014 by leroy watson

Pulp Burgers with Seitan, Miso and a Polenta Crumb

Pulp Burgers with Seitan, Miso and a Polenta and Sesame Crumb

THESE VEGAN BURGERS ARE CARNIVORE APPROVED!!!!! PACKED WITH FLAVOUR AND LOADS OF TEXTURE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE THEY’RE MADE FROM LEFTOVER KITCHEN SCRAPS!

A vivid receptacle for all your kitchen scraps, a modern take on what would have been a very old fashioned, house wife style, classic. Purple vegan burgers are not it Delia’s repertoire yet, but if you love juicing (and more and more people are getting on that ship) you’ll be wondering what to do with all that gorgeous looking leftover pulp. We use it as a fabulously nutritious filler for many dishes, our muffins turn out rather well (see Juicer Pulp Muffins with Pecan, Fig and Turmeric); burgers, cakes, soups etc. They give these burgers a great texture, light and moist. A million miles away from the stodgy, claggy veggie burgers that most of us have to endure on regular occasions. Well, not in the Beach House!!!!!! Pop round for dinner, we’ll whip you a pulp burger up and you’ll leave considering your very own vegan burger odyssey. It’s a large and diverse place to inhabit for a while. The options are mind boggling.

You will need alot of juicer pulp for these burgers, maybe save up for a couple of days. Taste it before you use it, the citrus elements especially can go a little wayward after a day or more in the fridge. We did it in a day! A pint of juice is surely a zingy start to the day. This pulp contains 250g spinach leaves, 4 apples, 4 carrots, 1 beetroot, 1 handful parsley, 1 lemon (with ½ zest), 1 orange (with ½ zest), 2 large florets of broccoli. Phew! Then yum. Quite a list of ingredients, but we use whats to hand and buy loads of veggies and fruits, if they are getting a little past their best we juice them and come up with many odd combos. Swede juices is a real thing! Certainly wakes you up first thing.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING YOUR JUICER PULP?

The pulp leftover from juicing is filled with fibre which is amazing for digestion. A little word of warning, too much fibre will bung you up so bear that in mind. No juicer will produce completely dry pulp, so there are benefits from eating the leftover juice along with the pulp. Fruits (especially citrus) store many of their nutrients/ flavanoids in their skins, so we are not missing out any of that goodness either.

OTHER IDEAS FOR USING UP LEFTOVER JUICE PULP

– COMPOST IT, THE PULP WILL BREAK DOWN VERY QUICKLY AND THE GARDEN LOVES IT!

– ADD TO SMOOTHIES FOR A FIBRE HIT

– ADD IT STRAIGHT TO SOUPS AS A THICKENER INSTEAD OF POTATOES ETC

– FREEZE IT, GATHER ENOUGH PULP UNTIL YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE BURGERS ETC.

– SOME PEOPLE FEED IT TO THEIR PETS AND ANIMALS, MIXED INTO THEIR NORMAL FOOD.

I use cooked rice as the binding/ ballast for these veggie burgs. You can use a similar quantity of cooked millet, buckwheat, pearl barley, quinoa etc. They will all work well once blended up into a sticky paste.
The flavouring of this burger went East, but you can flavour it with whatever you like. Some suggested substitutes would be leeks = onions, tahini = peanut or other nut butters, sesame seeds = any other nuts (crushed for the coating), seitan = firm tofu or tempeh, tamari = soya sauce/ shoyu.

Seitan is an ingredient we use rarely. It has a lovely texture, sometimes called ‘mock duck’ it is something a bit different. Seitan is basically pure gluten and these burgers can easily be made gluten free by adding tofu or tempeh instead. You won’t lose anything by doing so.

I fancied putting a crunchy coating on the burgers and a vivid yellow jacket, so I used polenta. You can leave them naked if you like, or go for breadcrumbs. Both would work very nicely indeed. I like the colour of them without there jackets and its a little less fuss.

Pulp burgers pre-crumbing

The Bits – Makes 8 Fat Quarter Pounders
3 tbs oil (more for frying)
300g leeks (finely sliced)
1 inch sq fresh ginger (finely diced)
4 cloves garlic (peeled and crushed)
3 teas sesame seeds (more for the coating)
3 tbs tahini
1 -2 tbs tamari
2 tbs brown miso
200g seitan (roughly chopped)
400g brown rice (cooked and cooled – leftovers are best)
1 tbs sesame oil
900g juice pulp

Crumb
1 small handful of sesame seeds
2 big handfuls of polenta (optional)
½ teas turmeric

Do It
In a large frying pan with a heavy bottom, add 2 tbs oil and your leeks, sauté until tender, add your seitan, sesame seeds and ginger, cook for another 3 minutes, then add the garlic, tamari, miso, tahini and 2 tbs water, cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated.

In a blender, blitz your cooked rice until it forms a thick paste. Sticky to the touch.
Add the leek mix and rice to the juice pulp, pour in your sesame oil and 1 tbs more oil. Pop in a fridge for ½ hour or longer to mingle and get together.

The leek mix and juice pulp before mixing

Scatter sesame seeds, turmeric and polenta on a plate, grab a handful of burger mix and form it into patties of your favourite dimensions. Place on the plate and toss the coating over the burgers, pat gently so that it sticks.

Your burger mix in all its vivid-ness

Preheat oven to 180oC.

Warm oil in a pan, we like to use roughly 3 tbs, and replenish when needed. For super crispy burgers, cover the base with 1 cm of oil and shallow fry them gently. This is amazing, but uses alot of oil, so we reserve it for what could be called, ‘special’ occasions. Fry the burgers on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes each side, until golden brown and warmed through. Top up the oil as needed. Use a nice flat spatula and gently flip them over, veggie burgers need to be handled with a little finesse and care, otherwise they’ll look like a dog’s dinner (which basically means not very appetising at all unless you’re a spaniel).

Quick fry in the pan and then a warm in the oven

After frying, place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment and pop them in the oven to warm for 10-15 minutes, this will ensure that the fat burgers have a piping hot middle.

Serve

However you like burgers. You may like to maintain the sesame theme, as we did, and serve with smokey hummus (smoked paprika mixed into regular hummus) and salad leaves (we used sorrel) or serve them in fresh bread with something creamy, a bean puree for example, and something tangy; pickles, pineapple, then the ubiquitous leaves; spinach, lettuce, sorrel?(it grows like weeds in our garden).

Our juicer pulp burgers, ready for action

Foodie Fact

This is Wales and the leek is a national symbol of pride and rightly so for many reasons. Leeks are said to come from Central Asia and were introduced to Britain by the Romans who believed they helped the voice (could this be why the Welsh are famed for their singing voices?). The history of leeks in Wales goes back to the 17th Century when a Welsh army defeated the Anglo Saxons, to differentiate themselves form the enemy, the Welsh wore leeks on their helmets.

Leeks are a member of the allium family, along with garlic, onions and many others. The alliums are filled with flavanoids, folates and anti-oxidants, which combine to keep our heart very healthy indeed. All of the alliums have anti-inflammatory properties. The healthiest parts of the leek are the bulb and just above, this is where the health-giving chemicals hang out.

Walking around Aber Falls (near Bangor) recently. Walking off all those burgers!

Categories: Recipes, Wales | Tags: burgers, healthy, juicer, juicing, nutrition, pulp, recipe, seitan, vegan, vegetarian, wales, waste | 6 Comments

Pecan and Fig Muffins (Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free)

Posted on August 27, 2014 by leroy watson

GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN, SUGAR FREE, LOW GI, HIGH FIBRE, …….whatever you want to call them, these muffs are very cool.

The worlds healthiest muffin? Almost, possibly not. The worlds strangest muffin? Quite possibly. The worlds tastiest muffin? (Probably) YES!

These are muffins if Doctor Parnassus made them in his Imaginarium (any Terry Gilliam fans out there?) Containing what can only be described as pscycedelic pulp (great name for a surfer rock band). This is what you could call a classic Beach House post, we woke up and all of a sudden made some pink-ish muffins with turmeric in them, then thought we’d write about the experience. I trust you don’t think any of these posts are planned or orchestrated in anyway. This is adventure is all the food we are eating right NOW. Steaming on the plate/ wire rack. You can probably tell by the rushed looking photo’s, a hungry camera man is a complacent camera man. Thankfully these freakish muffs are totally delicious, have an almost succulent texture and are happily brimming over with health giving properties and the main thing (that we almost forgot) is that they are a pleasing receptacle for your leftover juice pulp.

Yes,these sweet thangs are ‘sugar free’, although I don’t quite get this new movement. The whole sugar free thing seems mystifying; you can’t eat one type of sugar but can eat other types of sugar. Its like being vegan, but you can eat goats cheese because its lower in fat???? Can someone please explain the ‘Sugar-free’ craze? Anyway, these are sugar free as they only contain dried fruit and maple syrup, which are not classed as ‘sugar’ by some. They are of course, much better than processed, bleached, alien sugars, meaning all white sugar (which isn’t even vegetarian as it can contain bone meal!!!!). Low GI seems the way forward, or eating fructose with fibre (like a banana) which naturally slows he absorption of sugar into the blood stream.

PULP (NON)FICTION

Jane and I would be nowhere without juice. Our lives have changed since we got our first juice machine and we are now a happier shade of orange (too many carrot and ginger juices, you have been warned!). We have been curious about juice pulp muffins for ages. How can we use up all of this wonderful looking chaff. Its almost pure fibre and we’re not eating it? Quite a conundrum! How can we utilise this excellent commodity, other than adding to the ever grateful compost bin. What better way that baking with it! We discover a great webpage that gives ‘20 smart uses for using up leftover juice pulp’ from making ‘pulpsicles’ to a face mask, there are so many creative ways of putting pulp to work. Check it out! We also like to add it as balast ie replacing, rice, lentils etc, to vegan burgers and patties (falafels, sausages, frisbee…….or whatever shape is being moulded), it can also be incorporated into a wholesome and frugal soup. No doubt, more pulp-based Beach House posts are coming this way….watch this space for Pulp Gazpacho.

PULP NUTRIENTS VS JUICE NUTRIENTS

The leftover pulp from juicing is primarily fibre, although there are some other good things in it as no matter how good your juicer, dry pulp is virtually impossible to extract. Too much pulp is not great for the system as the high fibre content may lead to ‘blockages’. Some would say, and this makes perfect sense, that juicing inundates the body with concentrated nutrients that it may not be quite ready for and eating whole foods is the way forward. We’d agree with this. The enzymes needed to extract the nutrients of most foods can be found in the food you’re eating. How cool is that!!!! When we juice, we seperate the ‘whole’ food, so eating the pulp later means that all of the nutrients are not necessarily available to the body.

Another theory is that the nutrients from vegetables is in the juice and the nutrients from fruit is in the pulp. Meaning, juice your veggies and eat your fruits. This is due to the flavanoid content in the skins of especially citrus fruits.

This is not in anyway us angling against juicing, just give some differing opinions. Juice is the finest way to start any day and we’d whole heartedly recommend it to anybody. For us, it is the cornerstone of healthy, vibrant diet. Juicing is a truly awesome way to offer our bodies potent nutrients and is a sublime wake up call to our system first thing. How often would we normally eat 4 carrots, 2 apples, 1/2 beetroot, 2 inches of ginger and loads of kale (our juice ingredients this morning) in one sitting, especially one glassful! You can just imagine what good that is doing our bodies and it shows the effect of bags of energy and a sense of ‘fullness’. Normally after a breakfast juice, I won’t eat again until at least lunchtime.

These here psyco muffins are beautifully moist due to the high pulp content, we baked ours for between 35-40 minutes (37 1/2 minutes to be exact!) any more and you’d loose some of that ‘gooey in the middle, crispy on the outside texture’ that is so drop, dead gorgeous. Also, under baking vegan/ gluten free goods will not mean that you catch anything or have dodgy digestion for the rest of the day, so there is no risk going for gooey.

Maple syrup is so precious on this hill, we did a half/ half mix between malted rice syrup and the glory sap (maple syrup). Anything is better with more maple syrup, so go wild accordingly. You could use any combo of dried fruits and nuts in this recipe. With the bright purple beetroot content of these muffs, I thought at one stage that pecan and fig just didn’t go. For some reason, they didn’t seem fun enough for pink!? Peanut and cranberry seemed better, and still sounds nice. Hazelnut and dried apricot, walnut and date, almond and prune……..The dried fruit used will alter the sweetness, especially if you’re going for dried dates. I’d say this recipe is moderately sweet and would make the perfect, post juice, mid morning nibble.

If you’re not very keen on spice, omit the cardamom and turmeric (adding 1/2 teas more cinnamon), although the latter especially is one of the finest things you could ever wish to consume (health wise). Turmeric also gives these muffins a very funky colour, especially when combined with beetroot pulp (although the raw mix hue does tame slightly when baked). You can use most juice pulp here, but things like celery will take things in a more savoury, eclectic direction. Things like carrot, beetroot, greens (maybe not cabbage), any fruit, ginger are all fine pulp fodder for baking sweet things.

So if you try one muffin this morning, fill it with psychedelic pulp. Don’t worry, I’ve ate four of them whilst typing this with no obvious side effect (other than a goon like grin and a misty/ vacant look in my eyes, “Parnassus you rogue, is that you!!!!!??????”,,,,,,,,,,@). All is well in the BHK!

Dr Parnassus himself would be proud of such a mound of goodness

The Bits

2-3 cups juice pulp (ours was beetroot, carrot, apple)

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (we used 1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal/ fine polenta)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (coconut oil is also wonderful)

1/3 cup whole bean, organic soya milk

1/2 cup maple syrup (brown rice syrup or liquid sweetener of your choice. Adds to the crispy exterior)

3 tbs flax seeds (ground well and mixed with 6 tbs water. Leave for 15 minutes to become gloopy)

3/4 cup dried figs (roughly sliced)

1/2 cup pecans (roughly chopped)

1/2 tbs vanilla extract

2/3 tbs bicarb of soda

1 teas ground cinnamon

1/3 teas ground cardamom and 1/2 teas turmeric (optional but awesome)

For additional oomph! and new flavour directions (especially if you’re making a breakfast style muffin):

Add 1 heaped teaspoon of ground coffee/ wheatgrass or spirulina/ lemon or orange zest – and let us know how these go……we are trying the wheatgrass version next week.

Do It

Simple as.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl with a trusty wooden spoon. Form into big balls with your hands and pop into a muffin tray. You don’t need a special muffin tray for this recipe, you can form big balls with your hand and place them on a lined and oiled baking tray and then fashioned them into a muffin shape.

Preheat an oven to 180oC (fan oven) and bake for 35-40 minutes, turning the tray/ trays after 20 minutes. Our oven is a beast and can burn the items closest to the fan (do you have that problem?).

Leave to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before nobbling one or two. Best served warm and slightly steaming.

The psychedelic interior (dampened slightly by baking)

Serve

As quickly as possible. We ate ours with some homemade blackberry and apple compote, just because it was on the hob. I’d imagine some cashew cream or soya yoghurt would be pleasant. You will of course need your favourite brew (that means a cuppa tea, not a beer in these parts, we are drinking alot of ‘Iron Buddha’ tea at the minute. From China.) to hand.

Foodie Fact

Pecans. These little beauties are members of the hickory family and like all nuts, are packed with the things we need and thrive upon. Full of very good and useful fats, huge amounts of energy, good cholesterol and dietary fibre. They are also rich in anti-oxidants, especially an excellent source of vitamin E which protects our cells and skin from free radicals.

Categories: Baking, gluten-free, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: baking, food, gluten-free, healthy, juicer pulp, juicing, muffins, photography, recipes, sugar free, vegan | 24 Comments

Sage Nutri Juicer – Juicer Extraordinaire! A BHK Product Review

Posted on October 25, 2013 by leroy watson

Sage Nutri Juicer

We have the distinct pleasure of giving a Sage Nutri Juicer a new home. As regular BHK readers will know, Jane and I are partial to a morning juice. Actually, without it we feel a little under nourished and lack the incredible zing! that a fresh juice gives you in your waking hours. We had researched juicers and made up a shortlist, Sage where somewhere close to the top and definitely offer awesome value for money. So when one arrived on our doorstep, delivered by the juice crane we presume, we unpacked it with joy and then things got really juicy!

Juicing is so very good for us its almost outrageous. We find that a glass of good juice in the morning sates us until lunchtime at least. We also feel cleansed and energised by the whole process. Most fruit and vegetables can be juiced to good effect and this means that juicing is seasonal. We find that broccoli for example makes a wonderful juice and the stalk even tastes a little like egg (which is more appetising than it may sound!). We are also experimenting with recipes to utilise the pulp, normally discarded in the juicing process. Nothing is wasted!

You cannot beat a fresh juice, preferably with organic fruit and veg when possible. Please do not be fooled by processed juices or even worse, juices from concentrate. Many of these popular juice brands are just vehicles for added sugar to enter your diet and we don’t need any more of that. Fresh juices can also be high in sugar and it is worth balancing high sugar fruits and veg with lower sugar varieties, greens are a perfect example of this and bursting with nutrients and flavour. They also make your juice look very cool indeed.

One more word on juicing and we’ll get on with our review. Juices can be high in acid, that may, over a period of time, damage teeth. Its worth bearing in mind. Maybe brush your teeth after your morning juice (using non-flouride toothpaste por favor).

Our last juicer died in a dramatic flaming fashion, possibly due to one too many beetroots! We think it was a little under powered and couldn’t really handle the hard stuff, root veg and all. The Sage has no problems on this front, when you start it up, it sounds like an out-board motor and the high setting (there are two settings, high and low) cuts through hard vegetables like carrots like a knife through cashew butter. We are also very impressed with the amount of juice extracted, the pulp is very dry and even on high setting (think helicopter taking off on your work surface!) the extraction of juice is brilliant.

The Nutri Juicer is easy to assemble and take apart and relatively simple to wash up (the bug bear of many a non-committal juicer). The actual juice basket is as sharp as you’d imagine (like an uber grater), so taking care when washing it is important. Sage have provided a great little scrubbing brush for this purpose. There are a few parts that come apart with ease and fit together with the help of a reassuring metal fitting. It has a very solid feel when in use and is well balanced, no leaning or buzzing off around the work surface like some other juicers. The discarded pulp flies out of the juicer into a purpose built bucket, which when lined with a compostible bag, makes for very easy disposal in the compost bin, no scraping or blocked sinks here.

The juicer basket and pulp bucket

The Nutri Juicer comes equipped with its own jug, which even acts as a measuring jug for the pedantic juicer or doubles up around the kitchen when baking etc. As mentioned, the Sage is a powerful little contraption and this means that the juice comes out at a rate of knots, so the lid and rubber pouring spout are a must. There is nothing worse that walls covered with fine drops of beetroot juice! This power also means that the juice gets nicely whipped up and when extracted into the jug has a decent head on it. We like to swill this around and combine it with the juice, but if you leave the lid on when pouring the juice, it will separate the froth from the liquid.

A large chute on a juicer is essential and the circular chute on this machine is perfect. We have not found an apple that will not fit in there whole. This juicer will take care of whole apples without breaking sweat. Even if you are having a particularly hectic juice morning and the Sage overheats, it has a safety device which means that it will cut off and can then be used after 15 minutes of cooling down.

Mid juice – see the handy little rubber spout and cosy fitting jug.

This Sage is a centrifugal juicer and we had originally thought about a masticating juicer, which is alot slower and really squeezes the life force out of things (which we then drink!) They are generally more costly and there are only a handful of companies who make them, most based in the U.S. This means added shipping miles and cost to the equation. In the future, we’d love to try and ‘masticator’ but have been pleasantly surprised by the Nutri Juicer performance. One criticism of a centrifugal juicer is that it heats the juice and kills some of the enzymes and goodness, but Sage have got around that with some very clever design.

The Nutri Juicer is a real looker, with a shiny metallic finish and simple design, it sits nicely on the kitchen surface. Heston Blumenthal is involved with these guys and he seems to be a man who knows his way around a quality gadget. The Sage juicers were also used in the documentary ‘Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead’, I haven’t seen it, but people in a bad way use juice to help them get fit and healthy. I can see why they chose Sage, it is a well-priced juicer with brilliant overall performance.

Sage Nutri Juicer – Quite a looker!

For reference, we have a BJE410UK.

Juice, glorious juice.

Beetroot, Apple, Ginger and Lemon Juice

Makes 2 glasses of purple morning sunshine

1 large beetroot, 3 carrots, 4 small apples, 2 inch cube of fresh ginger, 1/2 lemon (juice only)

Scrub your veggies, do not peel. Cut the very ends off your veggies, they can get stuck in the juicer. Ensure no soil or woody stems get into the juicer.

Get your juicer up to speed, higher setting is best as these are quite hard veggies.

Add ginger, beetroot, carrots and apple in that order. Most flavourful and colourful to least seems to extract more flavour and colour. Makes sense!

Squeeze your lemon juice separate and stir in at the end.

Ready to juice

Categories: B.H.K Reviews, Detox, Juices | Tags: beetroot, heston blumenthal, juice, juicing, nutri juicer, recipe, review, sage, sick fat and nearly dead, vegan | 10 Comments

Kale, Carrot and Apple Juice

Posted on March 20, 2013 by leroy watson

Kale, Carrot and Apple Juice

The ultimate early morning kickstart! This juice will definitely get you wide awake and feeling wonderful.

The combination of kale and a whole lemon here (zest and all) make it a real eye opener, very different and refreshing flavour. You can also use something like a savoy cabbage here which also has great flavour. Who knew that cabbage juice could be so tasty?!

You will need a juicer to make this green and lean juice, and if you don’t have one, this juice is the perfect excuse to get one!

Jane and are glad to be back in the Beach House and eating our favourite foods. After our experiences last summer with the raw food diet, we are planning another venture into crunch this year, probably starting in late June (after Jane’s birthday). Last year we celebrated in a windy tent on the Pembrokeshire coastline with a salad and raw starwberry tart. Delicious, but lacking bubbles!

If this doesn’t wake you up of a morning, then I would advice you go back to bed and try again tomorrow.

PS – This is serious detox territory too.

Make two glasses:

The Bits

1 apple, 2 handfuls of green leaves (savoy cabbage or kale), 3 good sized carrots, 1 inch cube of ginger, 1 lemon (whole)

Morning juice smiles

Do It

Pop all in the juicer, we add the lemon first, then ginger and normally finish with the carrot. It is dense and juicy and seems to flush out any lingering bits.

Serve

Straight away with smiles.

We Love It!

Jane and I are not really morning people, our bed is normally the only warm place in the beach house! But this juice will drag us out and with the ginger kick, wakes and warms! Its a beauty.

Foodie Fact

Kale is one of natures most amazing gifts. Kale helps the body detox, lowers the risk of the big ‘C’ and actually lowers cholesterol (I love these types of food). Kale is packed with Vitamin K, C and A, Kale also has ‘unusually’ high levels of flavanoids and carotenoids which highly reduce oxidative stress (which is definitely not good for you). Read more.

Tunes

I can think of no better soundtrack to this juice, Mungo Jerry:

Categories: Detox, Juices, Recipes | Tags: detox, health, juice, juicing, kale, music, nutrition, photography, raw food diet, vegetarian, vitamin K | 2 Comments

Pina Colada Juice

Posted on September 27, 2012 by leroy watson

Pina Colada Juice

At this time of the year, with summer on the wane, you need some colour adding. You need something to remind you that holidays, beaches and the sun, are not just figments of your imagination. They exist and are alive and well in this pina colada. It is guaranteed to add a little tropical swing to any day. Sweet and vibrant, when we tried this, we both felt like we were back on a Thai island or any land where the pineapple grows.

Pineapples always remind me of Costa Rica, where in many places, pineapple plantations stretch to the horizon. Quite a site, rows and rows of those sharp leaves. Pineapples take a long time to grow, like a lot of the fruit and veg we eat and they are real gifts from the earth. They also look quite amazing, bar the rambutan and the dragon fruit, is there a cooler looking fruit?

You can technically grow your own pineapple, just take the severed head part and plant it in the ground. Quite shallow. After a year, a pineapple may have grown. We have not tried this for obvious reasons. Wales is not a pineapple friendly environment (however the raspberries are looking well this year).

You can see we quaffed this with a rather funky fruit salad, putting the meat of the coconut to good use with some other fruits seeds and yoghurt. You can try to make your own coconut butter/paste, just blend it up in a decent blender and after a few minutes it will take on a lovely creamy texture. Ideal to keep in the fridge and add to dishes.

This sweet and tarty juice takes half a pineapple to make, but its well worth it and the lime juice adds a nice tang to proceedings. We’ve added a little bit of canned coco milk, for creaminess. The combo of coco and pineapple is always tantalising and a quick burst of escapism in the morning sets you up nicely for the day.

The Bits

1/2 pineapple, 1/4 tin organic coconut milk (stirred and creamy), juice of 1 fresh coconut (the water only), 1 squeeze of lime juice.

Do It

Get the magimix fired up!

Juice your pineapple in large chunks into a large container. Stir in the coco water and milk. Just before serving, squeeze a little lime into the juice and stir.

Serve

Immediately, with sun hats on and some calypso music.

We Love It!

It’s a tropical juice to spark wanderlust in even the most rooted of souls. The tropical beaches seem ever closer with this juice in your life.

Foodie Fact

Pineapples are drought tolerant and the plant grows up to 8ft tall. Pineapples are a brilliant source of vitamin C and dietary fibre. They also contain bromelian and incredible enzyme that actually helps you digest your food and fight all sorts of infection/ disease.

View of a autumn sunset from the Beach House Kitchen window

Categories: Juices, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: coconut, food, juice, juicing, magimix, pina colada, pineapple, raw, vegan, vegetarian | 6 Comments

Four C’s Juice with Barley Grass

Posted on June 14, 2012 by leroy watson

About to get juicy

CARROT, CELERY, CUCUMBER, CORIANDER…….the fours C’s.

Why has nobody thought of this before! Or should I say, why have I never heard of this before, a carrot and coriander juice.

A classic soup recipe will no doubt make a tasty juice, just colder and thinner but still full of all those good enzymes and nutrients we need to keep ticking over.

I’ve made a few additions here to spice things up a little. The cucumber adds some freshness, the celery a more savoury edge and the ginger and nice little POW.

We take the skin off the cucumber as it has a bitter flavour and also turns the juice a peculiar beige shade.

We have been using barley grass in our savoury juices, it is a real super food and also has a pleasant taste. We’d like one day to start a little wheat grass farm here, but this dried barley grass is a more than adequate substitute for wheat grass.

Fire up the Magimix!

The Bits

Makes two good glasses

4 Carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 1/2 cucumber (de-skinned) 2cm cube of ginger, 1 handful of coriander (celantro, stalks and all). If your juicer is not great, you may need to mash up the celantro in a pestle and mortar and add it to the juice later. It can get left behind. If you have one of those little wheatgrass crushing machines (lucky you) use that instead.

Follow the instructions on the barley grass packaging (don’t over indulge!) we use half a teaspoon per glass. Add a little juice and mix to a paste, then add the rest of your juice, stirring all the time. This avoids blobs of intense barley grass surprising you mid-slurp.

Do It

You will need a juicer here unfortunately, we are blessed with a crimson Magimix that is by far the greatest appliance we have ever owned (purrs like a Rolls Royce when started).

Juice your coriander and ginger first, then the rest goes in with the carrots last. Carrots are a great veg to juice last as they give off alot of juice and really clean out any lingering bits and peices.

Four C’s Juice

We Love It!

This is a delicious savoury way to start the day, packed with vitality and goodness.

Foodie Fact

Several reasons that barley grass is worth adding to your diet. It contains:

– Five times more iron than brocolli.

– More iron than steak.

– Seven times more vitamin C than orange juice.

– Eleven times more calcium than milk.

Our bodies are mainly too acidic for our own good, leading to many health issues. Barley grass is a strong alkalizer and helps to neutralise the effects of an acidic diet and let our cells get on with their business.

Categories: Breakfast, Juices, Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: acidic diet, alkaline foods, barley grass, carrot, healthy eating, juice, juicing, nutrition, raw food, vegan | 1 Comment

Sava’s Elephant Garlic Flower Salad

Posted on June 7, 2012 by leroy watson

Sava’s last lunch at the BHK

Here was this lunch offering, made by Jane and Sava. A crunchy wonder, with bucket loads of veggies, topped with the ever intriguing, elephant garlic flowers.

This was Savannah’s last meal with us and we wanted it to be special. We rustled up a few different salads, dips and even a piquant beige guacamole.

Sava is originally from South London, but is currently masterminding world domination (Sava style) which means spreading love, happiness and vibrant energy to all corners of the world. Sava is also an ace vegan chef and was the perfect house guest during this raw time at the Beach House. We have spent most of our time sitting around talking about food and travel, two of our most favourite chat topics. Its been a gas….

Sava has an brilliant travel website, all about travelling the world and living your wildest dreams. Its called travel butterfly. Sava has just returned from travelling around Central and Southern America and there are loads of wonderful tales, images and tips to be found there.

These garlic flowers have thick stems with a potent garlic punch (the whole house stank of garlic after chopping a few up). The flowers seem edible, with small yellow petals. One bunch has lasted us quite a few days as its best used sparingly. Warning, if you are worried about garlic breath, do not approach these flowers (and stop worrying).

You may like to add some spirulina, wheat grass or barley grass powder to the topping if you are raw, or even if you aren’t, this would give you a serious boost. These are three heavyweight contenders of the superfood world. It is said that you can live on these green powders (the barley grass actually tastes of dried fish) but not even I will venture this far down the road of cleaning my internals up. The barley powder we have is labelled as a ‘powerful’ food and should be eased into, you wouldn’t want to over do it (this all seems very tame compared to my tequila slammer days, but unimaginably healthier!).

These salads are always super easy to get together, we’ve made them per person so you can just have it yourself, or share with the people you really, really like. This is a big salad and designed to be a main meal so there is a lot of ingredients in it. We realise this goes against some of our ‘The Big Four Raw Food No No’s’ but we are trying to be good! We topped it with the elephant garlic flowers so we could measure the amount we ate with eat spoonful, it also looked great.

Elephant garlic flowers

The Bits

Per person – Handful of baby corn, 1 carrot (chopped), handful of mangetout, 1 ripe tomato, 1/2 courgette (chopped), 1/2 apple (green and sour is best, chopped), 1 stick of celery, handful of cucumber (chopped), handful of cos lettuce (chopped), 2 teas linseeds, 1 handful of mung bean sprouts, 2 teas alfalfa sprouts.

Topping – Handful of elephant garlic flower (chopped), handful of sunflower seeds, splash of olive oil.

Elephant Garlic Flower Salad

Serve

Layered with a creamy Miso, Tamari and Tahini Dressing, topped with the chopped elephant garlic flowers.

We Love It!

Mainly because Sava made it and she is very lovely indeed. The elephant garlic is amazing and well worth seeking out, it explodes in your mouth and adds a spot of romance to the plate.

Foodie Fact

Native Americans believe wild garlic to help against ailments such as high blood pressure, asthma and scurvy.

Our Morning Juice Routine

Is stuttering along. We are still getting into the routine of a mid-morning juice. I used to have a nice jug of coffee, now its a yogurt pot full of fresh juice. I know which one my body prefers (bit sometimes I miss that aroma).

Jane made a magic juice this morning with the trusty Magimix. Simple and not really worth a separate post, its similar to a couple we have done before. It was a zesty Apple, Carrot and Ginger. The perfect balance of sweetness with a kick of ginger. Here is Jane mid juice:

Jane making morning juice

We aim to be drinking at least one juice per day and are finding that we are not hungry in the mornings. This would make sense, all of our nutritional requirements are being met, so the absorption cycle of the body doesn’t really kick in until 12pm. That’s when we whip out the salads.

We plan on getting a 25 kilo bag of carrots from a farm down the road and really getting juicy next week. Apparently, if you drink too much carrot juice, you actually turn orange. Watch this space, will make for interesting pictures I’m sure.

Happy days aheadX

Categories: Breakfast, Friends of B.H.K, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Sauces, Side Dish, Superfoods, Vegan | Tags: ailments, apple, asthma, barley grass powder, barley powder, carrot, cook, corn, elephant garlic, flax seeds, flowers, food, garlic breath, ginger, global, guest, happiness, healthy eating, healthy living, heart disease, high energy, juicer, juicing, linseeds, low fat, magimix, miso, native american, potent garlic, raw, raw food, raw vegan, recipes, remedy, salad, spirulina, sprouts, sunflower, superfood, superfoods, tahini, tamari, travel, travel butterfly, vega chef, vegan, vegetarian, wheat grass | 1 Comment

Pineapple and Blueberry Juice

Posted on May 25, 2012 by leroy watson

Pineapple and Blueberries make happy

This mornings juice worked out a treat. The sun is out again, which is a rarity and always cherished. All the windows and doors are open as the Beach House breathes in the warm air. It has been a long cold winter, we need all the sun we can get!

There has been a pineapple ripening on the window ledge for weeks now, getting nice and sweet, waiting for just such a day; when we can close our eyes and outside, drift off with the birdsong. Maybe imagine that there are palm trees swaying above us and pineapples grow freely in the next field. Instead its a fuchsia bush and potatoes that grow, but I wouldn’t change it.

I had the good fortune to stumbled across some luscious looking organic blueberries (unfortunately not from this island) which will complement our lovely tropical friend, adding their vivid dark colour and nutrients to proceedings.

I started the Magimix up and here the rest is here:

The Bits

Half a pineapple chopped into chunks, two good handfuls of blueberries.

Do It

Stick it in the Magimix, blueberries first, followed by the pineapple. We always juice like this, always dense and concentrated first, followed by something juicy/ watery. You will get better extraction of juices.

Pineapple and Blueberry Juice

Serve

Your favourite wine glasses!

Foodie Fact

To grow pineapples all you need to do is chop off the top and plant it! It does take years to grow (which heightens my respect for the fruit) and very tropical conditions. Our pineapple tops add a tropical flavour to our compost bin!

Buster takes in some sun

Categories: Breakfast, Garden, Healthy Eating, Juices, Organic, Raw Food, Recipes, Relax, Vegan, Wales | Tags: blueberry, breakfast, britain, cats, compost bin, food, fruit, garden, grow, health, healthy living, juice, juicing, long cold winter, magimix, organic, pineapple, recipes, summer, sun, tropical flavour, vegan, vegetarian, wales, weather | 2 Comments

Carrot, Orange and Ginger Juice

Posted on May 16, 2012 by leroy watson

Carrot, Orange and Ginger Juice

Playing with the Magimix is becoming a great pastime. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it. All those combos of veg and fruit, it really inspires you to get juicing.

I have been feeling great the last couple of days and I’m putting it down to our new morning juice routine. As they say, “an apple a day keeps the doctors away”. Well I could probably fit seven apples into one glass of juice. That’s putting yourself at some serious distance from that doctor!

Here was todays wonder juice. Granted not the most amazingly original, but a classic combo.

The Bits

4 carrots, 6 oranges, one cube of fresh ginger.

Do It

Juice your oranges first (using your juicer if you have the right fitting, saves plenty of time), then put your ginger in the juicer first, followed by the carrots.

Foodie Fact

This one is jam packed with Vitamin C and A.

Toast the morning, smile and drink…..

Categories: Healthy Living, Juices, Raw Food, Recipes | Tags: apple a day, breakfast, food, ginger juice, happiness, health, healthy living, healthy-living, juice, juicing, morning buzz, nutrition, raw, raw food, recipes, seven apples, vegetarian, Vitamin C | Leave a comment

Green Kiwi Juice

Posted on May 15, 2012 by leroy watson

The bits

Our first juice with the Magimix, quite a moment. I have never had a more pleasing kitchen gadget. The motor purs and hums, no clattering and pops like our old smoothie maker.

I looked at the fruit bowl and veg basket and decided it was a green morning. Kiwi would go very nicely with apple, the cucumber is always refreshing and the pear would add a nice sweetness.

We loaded it all into the extra big funnel and whizzed it up. The Magimix made quick work of it.

The juice was lovely, fresh and sweet, with a good kick of kiwi.

The Bits

2 apples, 1 pear, good chunk of cucumber, 2 kiwis.

Makes enough for two glasses.

Do It

Pop it all in a juicer.

Foodie Fact

Kiwis are sometimes called a Chinese Gooseberry as they are the national fruit of China. They contain more vitamin C than orange, it is also full of Vitamin K and is amazing for protecting our DNA (which is important!).

What a wonderful way to start a day. Let the juice experimenting begin!

Green Kiwi Juice

Categories: Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Juices, Recipes | Tags: apple, breakfast, chinese gooseberry, DNA, food, health, healthy eating, healthy living, juice, juicer, juicing, kitchen gadget, kiwi, magimix, recipes, vitamin K, way to start a day | Leave a comment

The Magimix arrival

Posted on May 15, 2012 by leroy watson

Magimix Arrives

The Magimix juicer arrived yesterday. I was overcome with a ‘child at christmas’ feeling. It’s a heavy thing and as we all know, heavy means quality. A good sign.

The juicer is a ‘Le Duo XL’ and judging by the way it all slots together so well and the 12 year guarantee with the motor, it is a good piece of kit.

We had ordered it in red to go nicely with our utensils and teapot, it fits in perfectly, like its always been there. It boasts an extra large funnel, so whole pieces of fruit and veg can be juiced in one and a citrus press fitting, making OJ nice and easy.

We cannot wait to begin the juicing in the morning. The Magimix will be an essential part of our ‘Raw June‘ Challenge.

We’re getting juicy!