starting ingredients

I have a Breville Juice Fountain.  My friend, Kate, has a Blendtec Total Blender “the professional’s choice”.  Recently, I tried out Kate’s juicer because I’m wild like that.  I started with 1 head of romaine lettuce, 1 orange, 2 cucumbers, 2 lemons, and a handful of kale.  Now, the biggest difference between Kate’s juicer and mine, is that with hers, there is no pulp shooting out the other side.  There is no waste.  What you put in the juicer (which is really a high-powered blender and soup and smoothie maker), you drink.

step 2, with a little water added

When it actually came time to blend, the 2nd cucumber had to go (sorry, bud, I’ll eat you with some hummus later in your solid state), as well as some of the lettuce.  You also need to add water to this concoction to get things moving, whereas in my juicing situation, you just push the item through like you would a log through a chipper.  Kate’s juicer has some serious horsepower (“1,500-watt 3-horsepower direct-drive motor”).

down the hatch!

Here you can see the finished product.  It was tangy.  Let’s call this recipe “Tangy Morning Surprise” or “What the kale?”  I like both of those names.  It was thick like a smoothie.  If I did it again, and since I am cottage-mates with Kate (we share a work-space/super-cottage with 3 other women…check out this article by my friend, Caite White, about women sharing work spaces…it’s getting to be all the rage and I know why…it’s wonderful!), and she has graciously given me permission to juice/blend at will, I would’ve added more water and made it thinner…more like juice/less like smoothie.

Finally, I have to say that the most impressive thing about the Blendtec is…less mess.  The Breville has many parts, all which require cleaning and scrubbing and reassembling afterwards, but the Blendtec is a one-piece wonder that makes juicing that much more doable.

That’s your juicing report for this week!