This column declares a love of bacon in its title. And there is nothing but truth in that statement. But before I arrived at bacon, I lived a life swaddled in smoked tempeh. As a vegetarian, I had a long list of habits centered around living a vegetable rich life. And even though I currently eat meat, some of those habits remain. One of them is juicing. These days, my morning routine usually involves an espresso (double shot please), but every now and then I’ll make a green juice and be reminded why I ended up as a vegetarian for so many years in the first place.
Vegetables make you feel good.
For that reason alone, I feel compelled to defend the green juice. I think it gets a bad rap. But, truthfully, this emerald concoction is a panacea for all ills. I’m sure you’ve heard a whole slew of bright-eyed, dewy-skinned aficionados gloat about how they have to have their green juice every morning. But once you start making your own, you’ll hop on the train, maybe go green (juicing) for a week and feel revitalized too. There is some truth to all that talk about the energy, mental clarity, and super-human hearing(OK, maybe not that) that results from a glass of chlorophyll-rich juice. 
And here’s the thing, getting your green juice on makes eating all that delicious bacon a bit more feasible.
I recommend juicing what you like. My standby is a kale-carrot-green apple-lemon combo.
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Basic Green Juice
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
Getting your green juice on makes eating all that delicious bacon a bit more feasible.
Ingredients
- 2 stalks kale (lacinato)
- 1 green apple
- 1 large carrot
- freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Juice kale, apple and carrot into a glass.
- Finish with freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
Notes
- Balance is the key to great flavor.
- This juice is on the bitter side because of the kale.
- If you like something brighter, try juicing a head of lettuce in its place.
- Experiment with different vegetables and add fruit for a hint of sweetness, but make sure you’ve got a green vegetable as your base.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Drinks
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 glass
- Calories: 130
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Frequently Asked Questions
This juice sounds bitter — is there a way to make it milder?
The notes acknowledge the juice is on the bitter side because of the lacinato kale. If you prefer something brighter and less bitter, the author suggests juicing a head of lettuce in place of the kale. You can also add fruit for a hint of sweetness while keeping a green vegetable as the base.
Do I need a special juicer, or will a blender work?
The recipe calls for juicing the kale, green apple, and carrot — which requires a centrifugal or masticating juicer to extract the liquid cleanly. A blender would yield a smoothie rather than a juice and would not produce the same light, chlorophyll-rich drink the recipe describes.
I’m a big-drinking, bacon-munching omnivore, but I’m totally with you on the green juice. People ask how I stay healthy when cooking so much delicious and often rich food, but I’m green-juicing or making green smoothies for breakfast nearly every day. Ultimate head start, I reckon!