I stopped using my juicer a long time ago. In a relatively recent conversation with a friend, I mentioned how I was simply over the whole juice scene. I love a fresh, vegetable-heavy concoction sometimes, but I hate the clean-up if I’m making it myself. By the time I scrub the last piece, I’m usually wishing that I had made a smoothie.
And I feel serious guilt when I spend 10 dollars (or more!) on one if I’m out. I know that you can’t really put a price on your wellbeing, but I’d rather eat or blend produce so that I can at least feel like I’m maximizing the satiation factor.
I had a green juice lemonade at a restaurant in Denver a long time ago. It struck me as particularly brilliant at the time. Like a gateway green juice. This carrot ginger lemonade here kind of plays on that theme. When I was working on the recipe, I wanted to find a way around juicing the carrots. I just gave everything the old blend and fine strain, and it worked out perfectly.
Carrots, ginger, and lemon are always a dream together, and so refreshing and vibrant as a lemonade. I hope you’re all having a great weekend so far. I’m wrapping up and editing some final photos for my cookbook! (!!!!), but other than that I’m going to try to take in some relaxing time.
Carrot Ginger Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1 large or two small lemons, peeled and chopped (make sure you remove the white pithy part)
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped (about 150 grams-worth)
- 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 4 cups water
- ¼ – ⅓ cup pure maple syrup/agave nectar/simple syrup, to taste
Notes
- If there were some fresh turmeric roots lying around in my kitchen, I definitely would have added a nice chunk into this pre-blend. Also, when I say fine mesh strainer, I mean something like this. If you have one, you could use a nut milk bag as well.
Instructions
- Set up a large bowl or pitcher with a fine mesh strainer on top.
- In an upright blender, combine the chopped lemon, carrots, ginger, and water. Blend on high for a full minute or until mixture is completely liquified.
- Run the mixture through the fine strainer, pressing the pulp into the strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the strained liquid back to the blender. Add your liquid sweetener of choice to the liquid and blend on high for 20 seconds. Check the lemonade for sweetness, and adjust if necessary. Serve over ice or store in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly.
My juicer is always on my counter and it’s actually really easy to clean so i just tossed all this in my juicer! I used more ginger since i’m a bit under the weather, as well as a little tumeric root and i added some black pepper. I mixed the juice concentrate with the water and a splash of seltzer for bubbles. Very delicious! Soothing and tasty, i’ll certainly repeat :)
Love the food, the pictures make making the presentation of the recipes so easy! As you very well know, food is all in pleasing the eye first.
I’m all for smoothies over juicing. It’s easier, cleaner, and I find them more satisfying. I love your idea of blending and then straining. Also, the vegan link made me angry. Owning a vegan restaurant is different than identifying as a vegan, and in my (non-vegan) thoughts, practicing responsible animal husbandry is drastically different than factory farming and is not something to protest.
We have a juicer that comes out maybe once a year… and it’s not even that hard to clean up! The thing is just a beast and we have limited counter space, so I just never think to use it. With that being said, there’s something so lovely about fresh juice (and carrot ginger is certainly a favorite). Love how you made it work without busting out an extra appliance.
Ooh thank you so much for the link love, Laura! That totally made my day!! I’m so happy to have discovered The Healthy Hour too, thanks to this post. Your links are always so neat. And I love the sound of a carrot ginger lemonade that doesn’t require cleaning up my juicer. Beautiful! Happy weekend, lady. <3
No problem, Sophie! I’m so inspired by your work. I hope you had a great weekend :D
xo L
Oh! So clever and the flavors/colors sound so perfect right now. I grated some carrots in the food processor to use in a recipe for which they needed to be squeezed of excess moisture. Squeezing left me with so much (delicious!) carrot juice, it had me wondering why I wasn’t grating carrots all the time. This is a brilliant reminder. Hope you can catch up on sleep soon!
I hope you were making carrot cake or something deliciously similar :) :)
xo L
I was told at a health shop/juice store in Spain (when attempting to order carrot and lemon in the same juice) that the combination of citrus and carrot is not recommended because it can cause skin spots…. Have you heard this before?
Oh, I’ve never heard of this! My impression was that the combination actually delivered the contrary for skin health. I suppose every body is different, but my experience drinking juices like this (and this lemonade) has never led to spots or issues :)
-L
I am this frequently for my boys as an afternoon snack but blend it with ice to make it more of a slushy…they don’t even suspect the carrot. Cheers!
Oooooh I love that slushy idea for when the temperature goes up! :)
-L
I’ve stopped juicing for the same exact reason — who wants to be bothered about the cleanup for just a juicing season? :D
This, I could easily live with this idea of using a mesh strainer. What a beaut!
Thanks Kiran! xo
AHH what you said about adult coloring. YES. I got one of those stress-relief coloring books and found myself obsessing over the intricate design, fretting if I had one little color smudge outside the line. So much for stress relief!
Ahaha, I’ve heard this from so many people! The intricacy required can be stressful if you’re a perfectionist, right? xo L
Ahh, thank you so much, Laura!! I’m a huge fan of yours and LOVE your gorgeous photography and recipes. Wishing you a lovely weekend!!
Thanks Stephanie! Love your work :)
xo L
Whoawhoawhoa. First of all, I need this lemonade stat. Must make. Second of all, the Cafe Gratitude thing! I had no idea this was happening just down the proverbial road from me. Sigh. They’ve gotten themselves into many a pickle, and while I think it’s great that their lifestyle has changed and they’re trying to be open about it, and totally insane that people are putting forth death threats, I also think they’re foolish to be surprised. As the article mentions, from the beginning they’ve cultivated cult-like thinking through their policies and practices, and they’re being served the underbelly of that now–for the simple human aberration of changing their minds. Cults are bad! Lol. Also, we’re going to Gracias Madre when you come to LA!
I totally agree with you! Death threats, cults etc = bad for real. But the level of shock on their end is kind of unwarranted. The situation in general is kind of awkward, but not awkward enough to keep me away from hella foods and drinks with you at Gracias Madre. Fingers crossed next yeeeeeaar! xo