Carrot Apple Ginger Juice

Watch out, world! I got a juicer for Christmas. Don't be afraid, I promise that I won't become one of those "juicing people." I still like for most of my meals to involve chewing. But that doesn't mean that I won't be experimenting with some interesting juices in the future. I have a recipe saved that involves beets, spinach and celery. Not so sure about that one. But this Carrot Apple Ginger Juice turned out great, especially considering it was my first attempt. I even got the Hubs to drink it and enjoy it (he doesn't know that he'll be trying the beet-spinach juice as well). It was sweet in a really natural, nice way with a little zip from the ginger. I'll be honest that it didn't smell great. The ginger really has an astringent scent to it when it's juiced, and so the drink smelled a little like carrot-scented cleaning fluid. But it tasted great. Really. Did I just unsell you from trying it? I hope not. You can find recipes for this juice all over the internet, I'll just tell you what I did.

Ingredients
6 carrots
4 apples (I used Cameo)
1 inch nob of ginger (if it's your first time, start with a little less)

I peeled the carrots, but left the peel on the apples. However, I did remove the core and seeds of the apple. I know they say you can put the whole apple in, but seeds have trace amounts of cyanide in them. Although it's completely fine and your body can process it, I just have some sort of aversion to putting cyanide in my body willingly...so I removed the seeds. Totally up to you. You should also peel the ginger. Then, juice away! I had no idea how violent the juicer is. That is something you definitely don't want to get your fingers in. Anyway, this made 800 mL of juice (about 27 ounces) which made for a nice big glass for two. And if my recipe calculator is correct it's only about 100 calories which is awesome. Much healthier than juice you buy at the store. Hmm... maybe I'm turning into a juice-person after all!

Spicy Sesame Carrot Salad

Carrots are fine. To me, that's all I can say. I don't dislike them. I don't love them. They are just fine. But, the Hubs likes carrots a lot. And I found out as I was making this carrot salad, my two dogs also really like carrots. Well, one of them likes them, the other I'm pretty sure thinks they are just orange sticks and is a little confused by them. But that's neither here nor there. The important part is that even though I'm not a big fan of carrots, this Spicy Sesame Carrot Salad was really good. I even went back for seconds. I found the recipe on YumSugar and pretty much followed it exactly, although I skipped the sesame seeds because I just find them to be a nuisance. And I put about a half teaspoon more of sesame oil because I love it so. This salad is just a little tart from the vinegar, and has a building heat. The carrots are still crunchy but a little softer than an untreated carrot, and it gets some nice flavor from the sesame oil and cilantro. It's a great summer side! 

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (I added a little more)

1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp if you don’t like spicy)

Kosher salt

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled lengthwise into thin ribbons

1 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves

Start by peeling your carrots, then use the peeler to cut the clean carrots into ribbons. This was harder to do than I thought, and I actually had some of the centers of the carrots left where it was no longer viable for me to get ribbons of carrot without also getting ribbons of finger. So I gave the carrot centers to the dogs (and the Hubs). In a separate bowl, whisk together the garlic, vinegars, honey, sesame oil, seeds, flakes and salt. Pour this dressing over the carrots, add the cilantro, and mix thoroughly. I would let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes for the flavors to get into the carrots a little bit. And make sure to mix it again as you serve it because the dressing tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl. I’m sure this is a side dish that everyone will enjoy!