Vegan day 98: Press + Blend: Pulp Friction
I love a good juice bar– especially if it’s organic and most definitely if it’s fresh press! Fresh PRESS is when they make the juice using an advanced “press” type juicer. These machines juice the produce and then press it ensuring that all vitamins, minerals and enzymes are squeezed out in as much quantity as possible without sacrificing quality. The room temperature must be cool and the machines gentle. This type of juicing is more time consuming. Sometimes you wonder– hmmm I can make that for 1/4 the price right? Well not necessarily with FRESH PRESS because the machines are very expensive- but with regular juicing you can- and by all means you should. Juicing really is worth the time and effort. If ever you can try the FRESH PRESS- go for it! In the city, two of my favorite places for this are Organic Avenue and Terri. (If you missed my detailed blog about organic avenue- check it out here!). Another previous blog with good juicing links and information is from “vegan day 2.”
Anyway, I wasn’t home- I was in Woodstock– land of the hippies, rock-n-roll, liberalism and now VEGANISM! Well, I think so anyway.
I visited a new juice bar there, PRESS + BLEND, which survived the winter months so it must be good! I ordered a smoothie- “PULP FRICTION” to be exact and I couldn’t resist the ACAI BERRY CHEESECAKE– vegan of course! The ingredients are acai berry, dates, cashews, pecans, coconut, lemon juice and banana. 
I will be making a similar recipe for a vegan dessert pie very soon- I hope it comes out even half as delicious! The smoothie was interesting! It was really good but it took a little getting used to. It was made with kale, coconut water, coconut meat, spirulina, cacao and a date. I liked it! But then here comes that inner saying… I can make this for 1/4 the price right? Umm- so wrong! What seemed like a simple smoothie- was actually quite tedious, not that attractive and hard to palate as well! But I tried lol!
My attempt at this consisted of kale, coconut water, coconut and banana! Simple.. except I have never cracked open a coconut. Actually, I still haven’t. The first time my nephew did it with a hammer and a screwdriver lol, this time my friend did it with a huge chopping knife- all other times, it was on the side of a road with a skilled coconut craftsperson and a machete! Ok so we have the coconut meat and water now- put it in the NINJA with a big bunch of kale and a banana. I hit the blending options and away it went mixing! The only thing is- it wasn’t SMOOTH as in “smoothie”! I have made smoothies before with greens but I think it was spinach that I used. This kale smoothie today seemed to still have particles of kale visible. Yes, it tasted really good, but the texture made it a bit difficult to drink!
The lesson learned today- is to TRUST THE EXPERTS… I can now further appreciate the creative smoothies made for me in these wonderful juice bars!
Disclaimer: The information given here is for educational purposes only. You should not use this to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.
[Saturday April 7th 2012 blog]
