Fun with Food Processors 2: Venergy Drinks

If I had more business acumen, I might try spinning Venergy Drinks into a retail shop. Like Jamba Juice, except...with a different name. And different ingredients. In fact, I did wonder briefly whether I was making a mistake putting this up online - until I realized that I only have three confirmed readers so far (hi gals!) and that places like Jamba Juice do you one better, and let you see all the ingredients and exactly how to make it, free with any purchase.

For the record, these aren't completely like Jamba Juice. I am also ripping off V8.

These are highly customizable, and excellent if you are like me and getting a box of seasonal organic produce once every two weeks. It's basically a smoothie with vegetables in it. It's one of the single healthiest things you can consume, with the caveat that your body reacts differently when you chew something than when you drink something and so it's probably not great for your digestion. I've actually noticed these are really filling, but that actually seems like a pro, rather than a con.

General guideline is that you want about a 1:1 balance of fruit to vegetables, something juicy enough to make it drinkable (or add water), and something other than fruit or veggies to give it flavor (in addition to the spices listed below, I've also tried peanut butter). If the fruit doesn't give it enough sweetness on its own, add honey or agave nectar.

Venergy Drink 1 (aka V8*)
1 grapefruit
1/2 cucumber
2 carrots, peeled
3-4 handfuls of blueberries
1-2 handfuls of grapes
1 inch piece of scallion
1 tsp ground ginger
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
1 tsp of honey

Venergy Drink 2 (aka V12 - pictured above)
1 peach, pitted
1 large orange
2 carrots, peeled
1/2 cucumber
3-4 handfuls of blueberries
1-2 handfuls of grapes
1/4 cup of salad (mixed greens, cabbage, chard, lettuce, etc)
1/4 cup of broccoli
1 tsp cinammon

Go easy with the spices, a little goes a long way and you can always add more. For the record, of the two above I preferred the second one - the peach has so much fructose in it that I didn't need to add anything else to it to sweeten it. I made one this morning using apple and nectarine but had to add about 2 cups of water to get it to be liquidy enough.

* I am using the apparent V8 definition of what constitutes a vegetable, as their recipe includes the herbs parsley and watercress, as well as tomatoes - which, despite what the Supreme Court might tell you, are a fruit.