Recipe: Spinach, Cucumber & Lemon Juice From Greenhouse Cookbook

Crisp cucumber and lemon allow for a bright, savoury finish for this healthy juicing recipe.

Emma Knight is co-author of The Greenhouse Cookbook: Plant-Based Eating and DIY Juicing. She is also a co-founder of Greenhouse Juice Co., source of the cookbook’s 50 liquid recipes. Her favourite? The Good. It says so right on her business card. Why? “It’s perfectly balanced,” she explains. “It’s all green vegetables except for lemons and a pinch of Himalayan salt. Super crisp and refreshing. And I just drink it every day.” And why does she juice? “You feel this kind of sustainable energy. It’s like energy without a catch. It’s clean energy—not sugar energy where you have this crash. I’m-still-good-hours-later energy.” Try it for yourself!

The Good

The name says it all: This one is damned good. In fact, it’s better than any other green juice we’ve ever tried (but we’re biased). It contains no sweet fruit, but unlike some of the meaner greens out there, it isn’t the least bit swampy. Crisp cucumber and lemon brighten up the leafy greens, and the tiny pinch of salt, while not essential, underscores the natural saltiness of the celery for a bright, savoury finish. Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients

8 cups loosely packed spinach 8 large romaine leaves

½ cucumber, unpeeled, coarsely chopped

1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped 1 lemon, peeled and halved or quartered, white pith intact

Pinch of pink salt or sea salt (optional)

Push the ingredients (except the salt) through your juicer a handful at a time. Running ingredients like lemon in between leafy ingredients like spinach and romaine will help to draw more juice out of the leaves.

Once you have finished running your ingredients through, let the juicer continue to run for a minute or two to extract the maximum amount of juice from the produce left in the machine. Strain the juice using a fine tea sieve to get a nice, smooth texture. Add the pinch of salt (if using). Shake or stir to combine before drinking. Serve chilled.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days if you’re using a masticating juicer or 1 day if you’re using a centrifugal juicer or blender.

Pro Tip
For all of our juices, peel the lemons, removing the tough outer rind. Keep as much of the white pith intact as possible if you don’t mind the taste, as it is a great source of antioxidants.

Excerpted from The Greenhouse Cookbook: Plant-Based Eating and DIY Juicing by Emma Knight with Hana James, Deeva Green and Lee Reitelman. Photography by Elena Mari and Nathan Legiehn. Copyright © 2017 by Greenhouse Juice Company. Published by Penguin, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.