Orange and Radish Juice

I remember years ago when I was into juicing. A juicer was given to me as a gift, and it would be my first time ‘juicing’. I actually enjoyed it, but it was a process, and the juicer itself was too large in size to be out everyday. Ultimately due to the time and the space, the juicer slowly moved its way back into the box and out of my daily picture. At that time I was juicing all sorts of raw vegetables and fruit. I would suck down that juice on my way to work, and I loved every drink of it. I’m not sure if it was all in my mind (I suspect not) or what but at times I often miss it.

This past Spring my wife and I decided to transform our outdoor garden. Since we moved into the house, we have been utilizing garden spaced alongside the perimeter of our home. We decided to get away from that idea as we wanted more space and really wanted to plant more (Not sure if we accomplished that) and build garden boxes and move them to some underutilized space in our yard. It was a great decision, and a very easy one at that.

We started by seeds and gave them our TLC, as well as some young plants from our nursery and farmer’s market. Tomatoes, strawberries, brussel sprouts, broccoli, beans, cucumbers, asparagus, and radish to name a few. After a couple of weeks, if not less, things were in full bloom. It was magical in a way. Our hard work paid off!

Also, little did I know that when I said ‘Hey, I’m going to plant radishes!’ to my wife that I would have about 200 radishes looking at me in a matter of weeks. I was quick to harvest, stare at the beauty of them, and then decide what to do with all of them.

I pickled a bunch (a lot) for making bahn mi sandwiches. That part was done, but what about the rest of them? I posted a photo and got a couple of responses. My brother basically said to toss them, and another friend chimed in and said to make a juice out of them. Bingo! I knew that oranges and radishes paired well in salads but I did not think about the combination in juice form, and it was perfect timing as I had a quart of orange juice and a bunch of radishes. It’s too easy not to try, so I did, and I actually really enjoyed it.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of orange juice
• 3 radishes, cleaned and trimmed, cut into chunks
• Ice, optional
• Strainer

It doesn’t get any easier than this.

There will be some ‘head’ from the blending, so you can wait until that tames down before straining if you desire.

Add the orange juice and radish to a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain into glass, with ice, to remove any radish bits.

Now sip and enjoy. This orange and radish juice, as weird as it may sound, is refreshing. Sure, it has that vegetable tone coming through in every drink, but knowing that always makes me feel stronger, and healthier when I’m done. Will I make this again? Most likely, but next time I might dust off that juicer and go for the straight extract and see what that yields.

Regardless, thanks to my friend for chiming in and offering the suggestion. Thanks to Mother Nature for a fertile garden, and for all of those darn radishes. Have you tried this combination before? Thoughts?