Vegetable Juice and Smoothy Recipes from a Certified Vegan Co-oper

I lived for two years in vegan student housing. This meant, among other things, that we could not bring any meat products on the premises. We were that strict. In addition, because we lived very close to the home-town University and were all burning away calories intensely studying for exams, we ate like fiends. Frequently there was nothing left to eat but the leftovers of vegetables, a few leaves of kale and a red onion--what the heck can you do with that? As it turns out, necessity inspired by hunger in an alternative-living kitchen can produce some truly inspired creations, or, when a blender is thrown into the mix, beverages. Here are my suggestions for vegetable-based juices and smoothies. I lived off these blended ingredients for nearly two years. I didn't starve, I didn't get sick; I was healthy, active, and satisfied. (At least until I sample meat again and plunged back into the savory world of omnivores).

A few tips with these blends of vegetables before we get started. First, know that its OK to be experimental. Soup--simply a hot version of vegetable juice--was invented to digest what would otherwise be rabbit fodder. Eventually soup helped clear out kitchens off leftovers and make edible the expired. It can be the same with a blender full of vegetable by-products, things like the stalks of spinach, kale, brocolli, and other veggy peelings, like potato skins (sounds gross, I know! But have you tried it blended with brown sugar, cinnamon, and almond milk? I didn't think so.).

It's important that whenever you're experimenting with food, consider making less than you would if you were familiar with the recipe. There's no sense wasting five asparagi (or is that asparaguses) when you need to only use two to sample. The great thing about blended vegetable juices is that they are scalable; you can make enough for one glass, two, or an entire pitcher, and essentially change only the amount of things you need to cut up or peel first. So start small, then when you find what you like, expand.

Now onto the recipes!

Tomato-Based Juices: These are the most common. Tomatoes are pretty cheap (a 12 oz. can shouldn't run you more than a 1.30 with tax) and not only add great flavor and color, but also liquid. Obviously the liquid is essential for a beverage. Here's my favorite tomato juice ingredients, besides the tomatoes of course: celery, lemon, tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper. But you can practically throw in any green--spinach, kale, collards--to thicken the drink and make it heartier. Another favorite is to add, get ready for it--peanutbutter! I know that sounds odd; peanutbutter is so often associated with soups, such as spicy african peanutsoup, which is absolutely delish, by the way, or in muscle-building smoothies, where it's combined with protein powders and chocolate. But peanutbutter adds a salty, nutty flavor to any drink, and goes especially well with tomatoes because of their acidic flavors.

Beet Blender: Anyone who tells you not to try beets hasn't tried them themselves. These gems from the earth are so beautiful and flavorful they make a fantastic drink all by themselves. Simply boil the beets, blend them up, and add salt and pepper (and maybe some lemon for a stronger kick). But beets are even better, to my mind, in juices when they're mixed with other ingredients, because they're flavor and color are so strong that they can mask whatever else you put in, which can be a nice way to throw in leftover cutting of vegetables. Not using the stalk of a brocolli or mustard green. then toss it in with beets. The classic combo is beets and carrots; both are roots, so hearty with starches and incredibly vivid colors. But I prefer to keep my beets and carrots separate, since they both can be used in the same way in a blend of vegetable juices. The best combo with these hard-core vegetables are a fruit--throw in something sweet to offset the hardiness, sometimes bitterness of the beet. Besides the sugar of fruit, I often add honey (natures most vitamin-rich liquid), agave nectar, or cinnamon. Also, unlike in the tomato-based juices, avoid adding peanutbutter--it's just too dense and can leave your stomach feeling like you ate a grand piano.

These are my two favorite bases for any vegetable juice: either tomatoes, or a root-vegetable, such as a red potato, beet, or carrot. Follow either one up with a green, some salt and pepper, and either something sugary (like a fruit) or spicy (like tabasco sauce or a pepper). Drinking this will quench your thirst and satisfy your appetite at the same time that you're eating healthy. That's a home run in my book.