What’s the juice on juice: spring boost juicing

Drinking freshly-pressed juice is a quick, easy and refreshing way to get your daily dose of nutrients and vitamins. And what better time to get into juicing than spring?

As you know, at Bodhi we love our fresh juice and so do our customers. Fresh juices and mocktails the most popular items on our drinks menu which features up to 20 different types of fruit, veg and herbs. We also love using fresh juice for our homemade syrups in our cocktails.

Why do we love juice so much?

Well, not only because it’s super refreshing and delicious, but also due to the benefits you can receive from drinking freshly-squeezed juice made from top quality fruit and veg.

Extracting juice from fruit and vegetables is a practice that goes back centuries, with many ancient cultures using juicing to promote self-healing. And with modern society struggling with highly processed foods, refined sugar, empty calories and poor nutrition, leading to an epidemic of obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease, we’re all for refocusing on self healing and health.

Now’s a good time to introduce juicing into your life, as we come out of winter (and for many, various levels of pandemic lockdowns) and into spring and summer in Australia.

Juicing is considered beneficial because it can help ensure we are receiving more than our recommended daily dose of healthy nutrients. So what’s the best way to get the most out of your juicing efforts?

Living juice

Extraction of the highly nutritious minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients contained in fruit and vegetables can be achieved by several methods of juicing: squeezing, blending, pressing or using a centrifugal motorised juicer.

One of our favourite ways is to use a cold-pressed juicer which gently presses the fruit and vegetables into a pulp while extracting the juice. Unlike a centrifuge juicer, this method creates no friction, air or heat which means vital nutrients and enzymes are kept as intact as possible, making it what some would call “a living juice”.

Pulp fiction

There are a few schools of thought on what to do with the pulp. There are those who advocate for a pulp-free juice to allow the digestive system to rest and focus on absorbing the minerals. This method is preferred by those who juice fast or follow detox programs.

Then there are those who believe that blending the pulp is best because it is high in fibre, which is also beneficial to the digestive system.

The great thing about a cold-pressed juicer is that you can follow both methods depending on your preference by simply adding the pressed pulp back into the juice once pressed.

Tools of the trade

Although more costly than a centrifuge juicer, cold pressed juicers allow you to extract more juice with less wastage, saving you money and making them far more cost effective in the long run.

There are a bunch of cold pressed juicers out there to choose from. They have come a long way in recent years, and many have been designed to be versatile pieces of equipment in the kitchen, even allowing you to make your own pastas, nut milks and sorbets.

We recently had the opportunity to give the Aussie MOD Cold Press Juicer a test run, and found that it was well made, extracted a high volume of juice and was easy to clean and maintain. An added bonus is that it also looks great in the kitchen, coming in a range of colours to choose from.

What to juice

Our owner Heaven Leigh is an avid juicing fan, and incorporates juice into her every day, making it fresh at home for herself and her kids.

Here she shares a couple of easy recipes to go with your cold pressed juicer for a healthier, happier and more nutritious you.

Blood Detox Juice

Ingredients

1 medium fresh beetroot

1-2 carrots

1 lime

1-2 green apples

1 cube fresh ginger

Method

1. Skin/peel and cut your ingredients into cubes that will fit the mouth of your cold pressed juicer

2. Feed through the machine and voila: freshly pressed juice

3. Refrigerate any excess juice to drink later

Pineapple, Coconut & Ginger Sorbet

Ingredients

1 fresh pineapple

1 tub coconut yoghurt (if you prefer it more creamy, make it 2 tubs)

1-2 limes

2-3 small cubes fresh ginger

Maple syrup (optional to taste)

Method

The night before:

• Skin then cut your pineapple into cubes (everything will need to fit into the mouth of your juicer) and freeze

• Cut off lime skin, cut into quarters and freeze the flesh

• Place coconut yoghurt into an ice cube tray and freeze

On the day:

• Cut 2-3 small pieces of fresh ginger

• Feed all your ingredients into your juicer (following the sorbet equipment attachment instructions)

• You can add in maple syrup as you go if you prefer a sweeter sorbet

*This recipe does not need to be exact and can be adjusted for taste.

---

Follow Heaven Leigh for more recipes, tips for juicing, making your own kombucha and more!

heavenleigh.com.au

www.instagram.com/heavenleigh_official

www.facebook.com/heavenleighaustralia