# Adventures in Non-Recipe Juicing

## Non-Recipe Juicing?

As a kid I recall infommercials for juicers, with the actors claiming that you can cram just any ingredients into the apparatus, and get wonderful tasting juice. Jack Lillane, fitness guru-extraordinaire, would stuff nearly entire fruits and vegetables into his juicer, and out would come some impressive looking concoctions.

This memory has produced a favorable impression of juicing. As a vegetarian, all the produce I purchase could be included in cooking recipes, salads, and now juice. I now have more ways to use my vegetables, and can extend my range. If I'm especially lazy, or I'm worried some food will go to waste, I can make some juice. If I have a surplus of greens, or carrots, or other veggies, I can simply juice them. Some lament the amount of pulp created, that would be otherwise eaten, but surely this is better than letting all of it go to waste. 

But beyond more variety, more options, decreased waste, and so on, it might be the healthiest way to consume natural nutrients, in large portions. Many people swear by juicing, and I can confirm that much of what they say is true.

But why non-recipe juicing?

* Juicing is not like cooking recipes. There aren't many tools, skills, or techniques involved. There are no juicing chefs. It is more like bartending, but with less chemistry, and we are not trying to mask the taste of poisonous ingredients. One merely chooses what one has on hand, in some desirable combinations, and stuffs it into a machine, with predictable results.
* There is some adventure in just throwing ingredients together to see what happens. Certainly, if delicious combinations and proportions are found, it is worth repeating and recording. I will do this here as well. It is fun and memorable to see what works, and what doesn't. If it this experiment doesn't work, I won't hide it from you. Failure here is probably more fun than success.
* If you're like me, you cook for speed, with no recipes and no detailed plan. You are creative and are able to produce delicious food with little effort. If not, that's even better. This is for you. And sure you could use a recipe, but sometimes, you have to use what you have on hand. 
* I'm just not that picky. I want the nutrition, and taste is a bonus. I'm more concerned with establishing a useful habit, and learning about the nutrition, over and above producing some magical vegetable juice recipes.
