Spring is the air and dandelion greens are plentiful. Dandelion greens are AMAZING for detoxing and beautifying your body from the inside out. Most people think dandelion is just a weed that grows beautiful yellow and white flours but they actually are one of the most healing greens you can buy. Dandelion is proven to reduce swelling, bloating and stimulate the digestive system to release toxins. You can say bye bye to water retention after travel, a heavily salted meal or eating too much.
This is my juice ingredient choice after a long trip away from home to reset my body. I’ve been drinking it all week after all the delights I experienced last week in California – I’ll be posting reviews of all of those eats and more Expo West highlights soon. Until then – Here’s the recipe I’ve been drinking. Warning – I think this juice recipe tastes great, but it may be a bit hard core if you are new to juicing. If you need a little sweetness you can add 1 green pear or 1 green apple.
- 1 bunch of dandelion greens
- ½ bunch celery
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 1 cucumber with ends removed
- 1 lemon with peel removed
- 2 inches of fresh ginger root
- Wash all vegetables thoroughly and place into a large bowl
- Juice each vegetable in this order – dandelion, cilantro, celery, ginger, cucumber, lemon
- Stir mixture before serving
- Clean juicer immediately
Off to watch the rest of the St. Patty’s Day Parade and turn the town green, dandelion green…
Food Babe
As an Irish girl I am avoiding all pubs today and heading to my fave veg restaurant for some wheatgrass and green juice! I don’t need one day to celebrate and drink – that’s our Irish right whenever we please
(Plus I’m more of a champagne girl than a beer girl!)
You tell em’ sister! I’m not a beer drinker either…I love champagne too!
I’ve never tried dandelion greens because I heard they were so bitter. However, you have motivated me to give them a chance. By the way, the lemon water and cayenne is having an amazing effect on my and my husband’s body. I feel 100% better than I did one week ago and we both have lost weight and and that terrible belly bloat. I’ve also lost my craving for sweet things.
By themselves, they are really bitter… I tried to eat them alone as a simple salad once – don’t do that. LOL.
The additional celery and cucumber help mellow them out quite a bit… I love that the lemon water is working for you! Yeah!!!!
Actually, dandelion green salad is excellent when prepared with equally powerful flavours….namely, LOTS of lemon juice, olive oil, finely diced onions, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper….and make sure your dandelion greens are chopped into pieces no bigger than an inch…deeelicious!
It does sound good!
Oops…forgot the diced cucumbers!
Dandelion wine is wonderfull also, my Grandmother taught me to make and like it
After a quick perusal of the festival fare, we headed instead to Harvest Moon Grille after the parade. I loved the sign they had out front…’Eat local to stay green all year long’. Loved it!
Smart choice considering all the funnel cake and hot dogs I saw! I love that sign – it’s so true! See you on Thursday – can’t wait for pizza pizza pizza!
Wow. That was intense. I just received a juicer that can juice greens and this was the first recipe I tried. Thank you!
LOL – was this your first juice too? Yes, it’s intense! Dandelions are soooo amazing for you. Have you tried any of my other recipes? I think I am going to get some tomorrow, yeah!
Hi Food Babe,
First let me tell you how much I admire what you’re doing to educate others on healthy living. I recently discovered a health market close to our house (I’m in Orlando where chain restaurants abound and healthy living is the minority). I also had my first ‘juice’ a few days ago and really liked it. I’m now interested in purchasing a juicer but am lost on which product is best. I’ve heard Vitamix is the best but is not really a ‘true juicer’ whatever that means. Which do you suggest?
Mirelle – Thanks for your sweet comments and congrats on trying your first juice. I am going to be traveling down to Orlando for a wedding in Sept…do you mind sharing where you went?
A vitamix is just a high speed blender – it doesn’t juice the same way a standard juicer would. In my perfect world – I’d have both, a juicer and a vitamix for smoothies.
Check out this post for my recommendations of juicers – http://foodbabe.com/2011/10/23/day-2-all-about-juicers-recap/
Good Luck!
Hi,
The health market is called Hoover’s. They are actually in Apopka which is NW of Orlando. I’m sure compared to the plethora of health markets you have and speak of in North Carolina, this won’t be an equal comparison!
Hi there- it may be a weird question but do you just go right outside & pick the dandelions?
Can this recipe be used in a blender? If so, is there anything that needs to be added to help with blending? Thanks!
Great idea! So any suggestions where I might be able to get dandelion greens that are safe to eat? As in pesticide-free?
To those asking about where to find dandelion greens that are safe to eat… I get organic dandelion at Whole Foods.
Is there a reason you cut the ends off of your cucumbers before juicing? I’ve never done that and wondering what I’m missing.
Thanks!
I’ve always been in the habit of cutting off stems and such… no real reason to do it for organic vegetables I suppose.
What is the water with lemon and cayenne pepper for? I usually just have water with lemon and not too sure why i do that.
First of all, lovee the new layout! Can’t wait to see what’s next! Random juicer question- I’ve been trying to find a relatively inexpensive one, but the ones you’ve posted are a bit pricey for me. I follow your posts, and I’m already so behind because I still don’t have a juicer yet :/ Do you know anything about Nutribullet? I would like to know if it was good for greens/veggies? If you know, I’d appreciate it so much! Look forward to hearing from you!
Just responding to the question about the Nutribullet. I’ve been using it for 3 weeks now and it’s the best kitchen product purchase I’ve made because it pulverizes greens to a fine juice while KEEPING all of the fiber. It also liquifies nuts and seeds (walnuts, chia, flax, etc) and there’s no messy juicer cleanup – just a rinsing of the cup that you make it in when you’re done drinking. I use kale, Swiss chard, and other bitter greens and any kind of fruit and nut around to make amazing stuff that makes my body feel so much healthier!
Thank you so much MaddyQ! I was really curious about it. I keep seeing mixed reviews and I really needed a trustworthy answer. I think I’m going to get it next week! Hooray
Ive been using my for several weeks and love my Nutribullet also. Nothings left but juice.
I’m going to try that. I’ve heard that before about dandelions. Great diuretic. My boyfriend and I just started juicing and we just through everything into that machine. It’s awesome. Going to try your recipe. To Ruthie, we bought our juicer at Walmart it’s a GE was only $50. It’s great. What’s the lemon and cayenne thing?
Sounds interesting…by the way I tried the lemon juice & cayenne pepper, I sooo wanted to make it my go-to drink but my taste buds & stomach apparently didn’t get the memo. One sip made me gag, second sip made me nauseous, third GULP (trying to forge through) made me actually barf =( Wish I could’ve stuck with it especially after seeing posts of others’ success w/it.
This is something I would love to try but I am a little scared because I have never “juiced’
before. Do you think too many of the vitamins would be destroyed if I made these and froze them in batches for a quick grab-n-go?
Can you drink these juices while breast feeding? I would love to try it but I’m commented to feeding my baby for a year…9 more months to go!
Sara – you’d better check with your pediatrician.
Wow! This stuff is intense unless I added to much ginger. It felt like I took a shot of tequila and went straight for the lime. This is my first time trying it and its good so far. I’m trying to get use to it and drink it slow.
Hi Yamel, if you are new to juicing, it might be a little strong. You might want to try this one http://foodbabe.com/2011/10/22/kickin-kale-juice/
It is a little milder and you can even add a little more fruit at first and less kale and ginger until you get used to it. Gradually add it back in. Hope this helps!
I had to add a bit of water to dilute the taste and it was easier to drink. I just tried the kale juice and it is delicious. I did use a little less of the ginger. Thank you so much. I love the recipes.