A Festive Juice To Light Up Your Cells & Tone Your Blood

This refreshing strawberry infused dandelion, cucumber and jalapeño juice has a strong cleansing effect. It’ll fire you up like a spicy Margarita, but without the edge. Serve it neat as juice, or mixed in with sparkling water over ice for a festive mocktail. Add a splash of Mezcal for a healthy-ish cocktail.

Nutrition

In terms of nutrients, the star of this juice is the fistful of dandelion greens. These antioxidant rich wild weeds have been shown to lower blood sugar and treat everything from jaundice, cirrhosis, edema, gout and skin conditions, to being effective in fighting cancer cells.

Traditionally dandelion greens have been used by herbalists to treat a wide variety of ailments including improving digestion, toning blood and to prevent gallstones. These uncultivated greens have as a result maintained a rich nutrient profile that includes extremely high amounts of vitamins K and A, as well as a vital dose of vitamins C and a complex of B’s, and minerals like calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper.

Cinnamon, strawberries and cucumber each posses unique health benefits, that will altogether produce the feeling of lightness and clarity in your body, while rooting out inflammation.

Juicing Notes

I’ve had this juice turn out green in color like in my photo above, but it’s also resulted in a red color when the strawberries were riper, deeper into the season. If color matters to you, add more strawberries or a slice of red beet – that’s sure to turn the color right up!

The portions for this juice include a modest amount of dandelion greens, but if you’re taste buds can handle a deeper bitter and astringent quality, I’d absolutely recommend adding more dandelion greens.

Sweetening the juice with diluted honey or stevia is unnecessary, and I don’t recommend it if being consumed as a tonic, but if you’re serving it as a mocktail, or especially as a cocktail, it’s a tasty addition.

Be sparing with with the cinnamon or it will overpower the taste. But do add it to the mix! Cinnamon heightens the cleansing and balancing properties of this festive juice.

Check out my Good Produce + Juicing Basics for tips on how to get the most of your produce when juicing.

TOOLS & PANTRY SHOPPING LIST

The one tool you’ll need to juice is, naturally, a juicer. Here are some contenders:

• Hurom HP Slow Juicer (I own this one and though it’s decent for the price, it’s not the best. My juices have too much pulp.)
• Omega J8006 Masticating Dual-stage Juicer (I’d opt for this one, now at the same price as my Hurom!)
• Spicely Organic Ceylon True Gluten Free Cinnamon