I have been known to be behind on the latest trends, and juicing seems to be all the rage. I am a little puzzled by this, mainly the concept of using beautiful and ripe vegetables and fruits for juice. In my experience, juicing is something that I have been doing with the fruits that are past their prime (no, not rotten!), with half a glass of orange juice that takes up too much room in the refrigerator, or generally when I am on a refrigerator cleaning spree. Perhaps juicing is really good for you; I admit I don’t know.

What I do know is that my parents raised us to eat vegetables and fruits each day; my mother spending plenty of evenings cooking dinner instead of watching TV or relaxing. We grew up with a strong emphasis on a balanced diet, mostly focused on vegetables for dinner, and fruits as desserts or snacks. I try hard to uphold these ideas when I cook. That is not to say that I am not open minded when it comes to trying new trends, but I think ultimately the basic concepts are what we return to in each trend or diet we see: eat more vegetables and fruits, less processed things.

I found all sorts of odds and ends in my latest cleaning. One poor pomegranate had been in the fruit drawer for months, hidden behind lots of citrus. Nothing in particular makes this a spring juice, other than the fact that spring has arrived, and that it is a beautiful shade of green.

Ingredients:
5 large romaine leaves
4-6 oz. of washed spinach
8 oz. orange juice
1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
1/2 English cucumber, roughly chopped
10 parsley sprigs (adjust to your liking)
seeds from 1/2 of a  large pomegranate

Steps:
1) Place all the ingredients in a blender (I used my Vitamix). Or alternatively, use your juice machine and you are done.
2) Blend away, making sure that everything is mixing. Meanwhile, prepare a jar or bowl by fitting a bag over the edge, or using a strainer. I tried a lot of bags, and this one (photo below) was on the top of my list, as well as this bag.
3) Strain, and enjoy.