Make a Sergeant Pepper Dinner Juice

Description

Peppers or capsicums as we know them in Australia are just outright good for your health. They have very few calories but are packed with nutrients and come in many varied colours.

You also get a lot of fresh juice from cold pressing capsicums.

Drinking this juice recipe will surprise you because you can smell the peppery aroma but the taste is sweet. I also like how the mint flavour really comes through in the taste and works well with the capsicums.

Ingredients

• 2 red capsicum

  1. 2 yellow capsicum

  2. 2 carrots

  3. 2 radish

  4. 1 sprig mint

Juicing Time: 4  mins
Juice Qty: 1000ml
Serves: 2

Preparation

Capsicums

• Remove the green stems

  1. Cut into halves or quarters to fit in the wide chute

  2. Remove excess seeds (you can juice them)

Carrots

• Cut carrots lengthwise once

  1. If larger carrots are used cut again lengthwise into quarters

Radish

• Remove leaves (they can be juiced if you like)

  1. Cut in half

  2. Juice with skin on

Mint

• remove the leaves from the woody stems

Method

Start by juicing the red and yellow capsicums. Add them in one by one.

Next, add the mint leaves and radishes at the same time.

Finish making the juice with the carrot halves adding them slowly one half at a time, remembering to to overload the pressing.

Tip: the seeds and white core of the capsicums are edible but add a bitter flavour to the juice which is why I like to remove them.

Health Benefits

Capsicum

Capsicums are often overlooked when juicing yet they offer an impressive nutritional profile, lots of fresh juice and a wonderful, sweet juicy flavour. Technically a fruit but used as a vegetable in cooking and juicing. Juice red, orange, yellow and green ones in different combinations for different flavours.

Capsicums contain an impressive amount of vitamin C with up to as much as six times as oranges. Because muscle tissue drinks up vitamin C, helping it process carnitine, a fatty acid that’s essential to muscle growth and recovery, capsicum actually helps build muscle.

They are also packed with vitamin A and beta carotene which can help boost the immune system, improve vision, and help protect the eyes against cataracts.

Green bell peppers are technically an “unripe” pepper. Even though green peppers are edible, the red, orange, and yellow bell peppers contain significantly higher levels of vitamins, mineral, and antioxidants.

Carrot

Carrots are well known in juicing circles as the ‘anti-cancer kings’ of the vegetable world. They contain antioxidants including alpha-carotene, lutein, beta-carotene and lycopene to name a few. Beta-carotene is the main nutrients when it comes to its cancer preventing properties. The body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A. It is believed that beta-carotene can break down the protective mucous membrane around cancer cells.

Carrot juice is also an effective natural remedy for an ulcer in the stomach. When carrots are juiced, they’re higher in antiseptic phytochemical compounds that inhibit the growth of unfriendly microorganisms in the intestines.

Radish

There are over 30 different types of radish varieties. They come in all kinds of different colors including red (common variety), purple, white, pink, black, yellow, and almost everything in between.

The leaves of radish can be eaten or juiced if they are fresh. They are almost as good as cilantro for removing heavy metals like mercury, lead, and aluminum from the body.

Radish bulbs can assist in respiratory disorders, bronchitis and asthma. It is a known decongestant, i.e. it helps relieve congestion of the respiratory system including nose, throat, and lungs.

Other health benefits include:

• Helps with headache and nausea

• Improve blood circulation

• Mouth & breath freshener

• Laxative

• Regulates metabolism

• Preventing heart disease

Mint

Beneficial for respiratory system issues such as bronchitis, asthma, and respiratory inflammation.

Packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants such as vitamin A, C, B-complex, beta carotene, iron, magnesium, calcium, manganese, and potassium.

It is wonderful for digestive ailments such as nausea, indigestion, ulcers, halitosis, and flatulence. It can also provide relief from headaches, sinus congestion, sore throats, fatigue, stress, and anxiety.

Mint can help promote blood circulation and improve metabolism making it an excellent choice for cleansing and weight loss.