Pak Choi and Orange Juice
Pak choi is the green I buy when I want something for my bones without another kale juice. It carries a useful amount of calcium that your body can actually absorb, because unlike spinach and chard it is low in oxalates, and it brings vitamin K and vitamin C with it. Two oranges and half a cucumber turn it into a green citrus glass rather than a salad, and a thumb of ginger keeps it bright. Four ingredients, ten minutes, nothing to cook.
Equipment
- 1 Juicer masticating or centrifugal
- 1 High-speed blender for the blender method
- 1 Nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve to strain the blender version
- 2 Airtight glass bottles for storing
- 1 Budget cold press juicer a great value alternative
- 1 Budget blender a great value alternative
Ingredients
Juice base
- 150 g pak choi about 4 large leaves, white stalks and all. Rinse well between the stalks and chop roughly
- 2 oranges large ones, about 300g peeled. Peel right down to the flesh and pull off the white pith
- 150 g cucumber about half a large one, unpeeled
- 10 g fresh ginger peeled, about a thumb-sized piece
- 150 ml cold water for the blender method only
Instructions
Juicer method
- Rinse the pak choi and shake off most of the water. Chop it and the cucumber into pieces that fit your feed tube, peel the oranges down to the flesh and cut them into chunks, and peel the ginger.
- Feed the pak choi through the juicer a handful at a time and push an orange chunk through behind each handful. Greens on their own give up very little juice and they can cling to the auger, so the orange clears the way and carries the pak choi with it. Follow with the cucumber, then the ginger.
- Stir, pour into two glasses and drink it straight away. If you want it properly cold, chill the ingredients for an hour first rather than adding ice, which only waters it down.
Blender method
- Peel the oranges and cut the pak choi, cucumber and ginger into rough chunks. Put everything in a blender with 150ml of cold water.
- Blend on high for about 60 seconds. The stalks take longer than the leaves, so check for pale flecks before you switch it off and give it another 15 seconds if you can still see any.
- Pour through a nut milk bag or a fine-mesh sieve and press the pulp with the back of a spoon to get the last of it out. Pour into two glasses and drink it fresh.
Notes
Keeps for up to 24 hours in an airtight bottle in the fridge. It separates as it stands, so shake it before you pour.
Worth knowing: pak choi is one of the few leafy greens that is low in oxalates, and that is exactly why its calcium is worth having. Spinach and chard are high in oxalates and lock most of their calcium away, so it passes straight through you. If you take warfarin or another blood thinner, keep your vitamin K steady from day to day rather than drinking this in fits and starts, and check with your GP or nurse first.
Nutrition
Serving: 1glassCalories: 95kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 3gFat: 0.5gSodium: 50mgPotassium: 590mgFiber: 1gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 600IUVitamin C: 100mgCalcium: 140mgIron: 1mg
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