When I did the green juice last week, I had no idea how amazed many of you would be that I used a blender and not a juicer. I have a juicing station that I rarely use (because I am lazy!) and have almost always used my blender for juicing/extracting (because I am fashionably old school!). I was also spurred on by the many emails and messages I received about colour coded juicing and I could hardly wait to let you meet my newest concoction. Think Red Juice just in time for Valentine's too.
Red is the colour of passion. It is the colour of our life blood and the energy that flows through our beings. It is the colour of love and the heat it brings with it. It makes you happy and hungry, ignites fiery emotions and may be responsible for some extra lovin' in the bedroom. There are a wealth of natural red foods in the world and they are great for boosting iron and supplying healthy antioxidants that fight everything from heart disease to cancer. A glass of red juice might be just what you need to put the colour back in your cheeks (who remembers rubbing slices of beetroot on their lips as a child and some on their cheeks to look all pretty and made up?)
Coming up with the ingredients for this juice was fun. It is always an eye opener to see how many similar coloured ingredients lie waiting around for you to use them. I wanted a fruity cooling concotion in taste but a warming drink in nature. I also wanted it to be free of added sugar and seasoning. I used watermelon as the base, beetroot for the heat, black grapes for sweetness, plums for the sour tang and anise pods for cooling. The strawberries just happened to be there looking all sexy.
Black Australian grapes are fresh and plentiful in the markets at the moment. I have used the Sable seedless variety which was originally developed by Sun World in United States and is now grown and hand picked in Australia. The fruit is round, plump, thin skinned, crunchy and extremely sweet. There are a number of other fruits and vegetables you could experiment with. Tomatoes, chilies, red capsicums, red apples, cherries, cranberries, raspberries and purple kale. This juice is thick enough to be used in a cocktail. You can also freeze it into ice cubes and use for a burst of energy whenever required. The leftover strained bits are packed with fiber and can be used to stir through curries or cakes. Think Red!
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THINK RED JUICE
A red juice bursting with antioxidants and vitality is the perfect pick-me-up in the morning especially before a workout. This red juice has warming properties and is made up of watermelon, beetroot, plums, strawberries, grapes and anise.
Makes - To serve 4
Ingredients
2 cups cut watermelon
1 cup black grapes
1 whole beetroot, roughly chopped
2 plums, seeded and chopped
handful of strawberries, trimmed and chopped
2 star anise pods
1 cup cold water
Method
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed for a few minutes until fine and smooth. Strain the juice into a jug using a fine mesh sieve. Serve chilled over ice.
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Note - The black Sable grapes were sent to me by Aqua PR courtesy of Perfection Fresh.
Gorgeous post, Sneh. I love all the colours and flavours in your scarlet juice. Beautiful work.
Gorgeous! I have never been drawn to juicing much, but this one is an exception.
Love the colors!
Am totally with you on the juicer 😛 I just use the blender for everything... Love these color-coded juice recipes you have started! So interesting... and so many options to match flavours and textures... And I just the color of this one. Gorgeous!
I love these photos.The juice looks beautiful and delicious!
Brilliant! I have seen so many juicing posts but this one really made me want to try it! I am in love with this color 🙂
Gorgeous juice! I love the rich color and the addition of anise.
Nice and healthy Sneh! I too "juice" using a blender...so much easier! Love the vibrant colours of this juice too!
Gorgeous photos! I never thought about using a blender to juice, definitely will have to try this out.
I love that you use a blender for juicing because I don't own a juicer! This has inspired me and I cannot wait to see what colour you do next.
Such GORGEOUS photos! I love the deep red of the finished drink. I don't own a juicer, so tend to blend my fruits as well. Add some more liquid and they're more like a smoothie (although with the watermelon in this one, maybe you wouldn't need additional liquid), which works just fine for me! 😀
That red looks wicked tempting!
Beautiful photography! That juice must taste just divine.
Cheers,
Rosa
I actually use my blender to make juice as well. Totally in love with the stunning photography!
I've never used my juicer till date, just like you say... tad lazy! Blender works great! The red juice looks terrific!
Absolutely stunning photos! Those black grapes look incredible!
I love to drink my fruit and veg. Juices never fail to leave me feeling energised and virtuous, and more often than not they are sweet and delicious! This looks gorgeous, and could be great for kids too!
I am with Amanda here. I don't juice vegetables and fruit but use the blender to keep the fibre. Your red smoothie looks delightful.
The red juice looks delicious, and I like the addition of star anise!
I love everything about the pictures in this post - they're making me so thirsty! Stunning juice, I might have to break out the blender tomorrow AM (although it's supposed to be 10 degrees... maybe I'll wait until it's a bit warmer...)
I actually use my blender to make juices and smoothies as well. I find with orange juice in particular, it means that I don't lose a lot of the fibre or pulp, which makes me feel a lot more virtuous because that's the good healthy stuff! I've been doing a lot of watermelon juice as well, which has been great for the hot weather.