March 14, 2012
A great thing about having a garden is huge amounts of greens right in your backyard. But sometimes, what to do with all of it overwhelms me. Just in time for St. Patty’s Day here’s an easy breezy green juice made with just two ingredients— fresh pineapple and Swiss chard. It’s healthy, tasty and super green.
About few tips about pineapples…
It’s funny to think of tropical pineapple being in season during the winter, but this time of year is when they’re most harvested in South America and Hawaii.
How to pick the right pineapple:
Look for dark leaves, lighter leaves may mean that the pineapple was harvested too early and has been sitting around for some time on those grocery store shelves.
Be sure to smell it— bypass ones that do not smell at all (dong) or smells rancid (dong, again). You want a nice fragrant smell (ding, ding, ding).
Then, cop a feel: does it give just a bit? That’s a juicy one—grab it! Leave the ones that are hard and mushy in the pile.
How to cut a pineapple:
Lay the pineapple on its side, lop off the ends and cut in half horizontally, around the median of the pineapple.
Next, cut the skin off in downward motions with your knife and continue until all of the prickly skin is removed. Then do the same with the other half. Slice each 1/2 into desired slices or chunks (I leave the middle part, it doesn’t bother me in the least).
At our house, everyone likes pineapples—isn’t that nice when you know find something that everyone will actually eat? I like to chop it up and store for easy access and snacking. It’s also delicious to grill spears of pineapple and serve it along side pork tenderloin for an easy family meal — the kids love that!
2 big servings or 4 kid-sized
1/4 of a fresh, sliced pineapple
6 cups packed chard or green of your choice (you can use spinach, sorrel and arugula or a mixture of all of them- basically anything extra you have)
Pack it into the blender or Vitamix until smooth, adding ice water to make your desired consistency. Serve immediately.
