Green Juice, Foam, Spinach Butter, and Purslane Video…

I’ve been meaning to post about this for months! It’s about how my juicer juices the softer greens. I posted about my great juicer and how it produces pure, clear juice, even with the most soft leaves. Here is an example of the power of the Super Angel Juice Extractor: When I juice baby leaves of spinach, it actually creams it. It’s spinach butter!

The amazing thing is there is no pulp in that — none. Zero. Zip. Nada. At first, I was peeved when I saw these chunks! I was about to go off on the Angel folks; however, I quickly realized this is simply the way it works — it’s merely the texture. The Angel has only one function for all jobs. It is a very (very) tight mesh; so nothin’ gets past it. This buttering seems to happen with the soft leaves only; the hardier leaves are clear juice (with some foam, of course — more on foam below). I strained this stuff in a tight-mesh jersey cloth and there was not a speck on it — completely clean! A thorough jucing, indeedy.  No matter what goes in, pure juice comes out! Hmmm…spinach butter…the possibilities…
Like, say… avocado-spinach ice cream? 

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I also  wrote about the first purslane of the season; I was quite excited as purslane (a.k.a. verdolaga and “a weed”!) is very nutritious (see links ^ ). I also have learned from reading about it, that the stems are extremely nutritious, as well. Normally, I would have made the effort to simply pull off the leaves; but now, I strip the leaves and get their stems too. I do not juice the stalks (or thicker stems) though; I’m referring to the small stems which attach the little leaves to the stalk . I tried to grow some myself; however, for some reason, it didn’t grow .

But look what I found at the Farmer’s market on a lovely California summer evening — A gorgeous, quite large, bunch of fresh Purslane:

Now, since we’re on the topic of juicing and textures, you will find this very interesting — try juicing purslane! It’s a viscousy, mucilaginous green (think okra, aloe vera, etc.) — very hard to juice! Here is the Angel working hard on the job:

Yep, see the thick goopiness?!! It’s like that thick goop you get from blending flaxseeds for flax “eggs.” Best way to deal with it (if your juicer can even handle it!) is to juice your purslane first, then follow it with hardier, stemmier greens, such as collards, kale, and parsley. Those will clean out the goop and get all that sticky purslane “sludge” from the juicer gears. Saves you clean up AND, of course, you get all that you should from the purslane, wasting none of it! . You can also alternate — purslane, kale, purslane, kale/collard, purslane, etc; but — in my Angel anyway — it works better the former: If you alternate, you will lose too much purslane goop because too much will remain stuck on the juicer gears, you see . The same clear juice resulted as above with the spinach, by the way .

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Want to see it in video? Watch it here! (Note: The sound of the juicer is loud because I have the camera right up against the machine; as well, the stress sound it is making is because it is working very hard on that purslane. It otherwise makes a steady (lower) humming sound):

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************* GREEN-JUICE FOAM***********

Okay, now that we’ve tackled the buttery, chunky spinach and gloopidy glop of purslane, let us discuss the issue of juice foam, shall we?

So, what to do with it? Well, I’m assuming most just drink it. I used to; but I find it to harbor the most bitterish-ness of green juices (not so bad in smoothies) — reminds me of skimming the “scum,” as my Mom used to call it, from soups or beans.

One issue with foam is that it contributes to gas and bloating and some interesting belching . No-o-o-o-ot sa-good, eh? But, if one likes it, there’s nothing wrong with it — somewhat like a whole-foodie’s answer to cappuccino .

Anyway, straining helps, but what I found to work better is a fat separator (a.k.a gravy separator)!! Yep, break out that baby, you CAN use it again .

I find some greens to produce more foam than others. The type of juicer matters to degree only; as far as I know, all juicers produce some foam. The Angel is the better of those I’ve tried; however, I still get some. Then, if you’re blending the juice, you’re whipping in even more air into it. So this can cause a lot of undesirable air in the tummy,you can imagine.

So here is the best solution I’ve found so far (if you have any strategies of your own, feel free to comment!): The the glass Catamount Bennington Gravy Separator, purchased at William Sonoma:

Top product. Besides separating, another great thing about it is you can always use it as a nice measuring cup, right? No waste. And to make this even more irresistible, it’s made of borosilicate glass; it’s microwave safe, dishwasher safe; oven-safe and — get this –  STOVE-TOP safe! Is that incredible or what? I am surprised by the stove-top safety; but that’s what the box reads. I will have to try it one day. I believe the oven-safety claim because boroscillate glass is well-known for that; will see about the stove-top! It is not “unbreakable.”

Okay, so I figure if it can separate fats, why not foam?!

Check it out: Some fresh-squeezed leafy greens juice and the separator with screen:

I poured in the juice…

Lotsa foamy-foam-foam…

Let ‘er drip!

Tilt and shake, gently to …

…get every last drop …

Not bad …

Now pouring…wow look at that GORGEOUS PURE GREEEEEEEEEEN_nessssssss!

Pure, and CLEAR…

What’s left….

Only because I (greedily) let it go a bit too much at the end did I get this tiny bit of foam…

I could have avoided even that little bit had I had a bit more control at the end ;^) Otherwise, expect it to be as clear as the above shots of the pure juice. It’s the same when separating fat — you will get some of the fat in if you don’t watch it carefully enough. But…

Ahhh….

Eden in a glass!

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An internet friend of mine, June, recently reminded me of watermelon rind juice! Very refreshing; so summer’s the perfect time, right? Right .In a recipe known, net-wide, called, The Niagara Falls Cleanser,  The Freedom You folks claim (as I’ve read elsewhere) that…

“Watermelon rind has chlorophyll, vitamin A, protein, potassium, zinc, iodine, nucleic acids and enzymes which aid digestion. Ninety-five percent of the nutritional content in watermelon is in the rind.”

Wow, 95% ??!! I don’t know if that’s fact, but it sure sounds good . Imagine — I’ve (We’ve) been throwing out ALL the nutrients and downing the sugar! Yikes. Makes it seem like eating a processed food, doesn’t it?! Cr_A-zy. :^)

Of course the flesh of the watermelon juiced has many nice benefits aside from great taste

Makes a nice green juice . A very good juice for “cleansing,” if you want to see it that way.

I like to add pure watermelon rind juice to my Green Juicie Green Smoothies; but during the summer, it makes a nice refreshing drink on it’s own with a little help from some citrus, stevia, and/or ginger.

To conclude, I leave you with a look at a recent GJGS — little bit of foam included with the blending of whole leafies

Mmmm…Now, what could be better? ;^)

Pox

Thanks pox , but what about a pic of the juicer?

By Tom Coghill of Fasting.ws Articles  may be copied or reproduced as long as the back links to fasting.ws are intact and the author’s name is included.