Early summer is a great time of year for harvesting fresh, crisp salad greens and you may find you have an abundance of lettuce in your garden right now. Nutritionist Suzanne Garaty from Vital Nutrition shows us how these leaves can be incorporated into tasty and nutritious juices.

Lettuce is a rich source of vitamin K and consumption may help in controlling inflammation, reducing body weight, promoting brain health, and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and other related diseases like diabetes and cancer. It’s best if you use Romaine lettuce, as not all lettuce is created equal in nutrients and flavour. Also, the darker the lettuce, the more nutrient-dense it is. Basically you can replace spinach with lettuce in juices, but the variety can determine how good it tastes. Here are 4 recipes for you to try:

JUICE 1

Ingredients:

• 4 large lettuce leaves
• ½ yellow pepper (cored and deseeded)
• ½ cup kale
• 1 tart green apple
• 1 sweet red apple
• ½ head fennel
• 4 celery sticks
• 1 cup spinach
• 2.5cm (1in) piece fresh root ginger (unpeeled)
• ¼ lemon (rind and pith removed)
• ½ cucumber

JUICE 2

Ingredients:

• 2 apples
• ½ head lettuce
• 1 cup kale
• ½ cup parsley
• 1 fresh green chilli (deseeded)
• ¼ cup mint
• ½ lime (rind and pith removed)
• 1 large cucumber

JUICE 3

Ingredients:

• ½ head lettuce
• 1½ pears (stalks removed)
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup kale
• 4 broccoli florets and stems
• ½ cup basil
• 1 cucumber

JUICE 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pear (stalk removed)
• 1 sweet apple (stalk removed)
• 1 small beetroot (washed and trimmed)
• ½ head fennel
• 4 celery stalks
• ½ head lettuce
• 2.5cm (1in) piece fresh root ginger (unpeeled)

 

Written by Suzanne Garaty

About the author Suzanne is a Nutritional Therapist trained in London at College of Naturopathic medicine. She has 25 years experience as a chef and recently trained in raw foods, at a gourmet level with Matthew Kenney. Suzanne’s business is Vital Nutrition which she founded in 2008. She offers private consultancies focusing on diet and lifestyle improvements supporting patients on their journey to optimum health. Her regular cookery workshops are delicious, fun and educational and her cooking skills are available to private clients, on retreats and for chef training.