I don’t know about you, but once Valentine’s day has come and gone, I feel like the next step is spring. Here in the south of France, we can already feel that the frostiness of mornings has given way to a warmer air, where we can smell the lemon trees that are overflowing with fruit. It is also this time of year when our winter appetites tend to calm down and our digestive system just needs foods that are easy to assimilate.
As you may have noticed in my IG stories of late, I’ve been big on juicing and pureeing fruits and veggies – and am thoroughly enjoying it. Here is one drink we’re having a lot of at the moment to welcome spring. Why? Because pear is delish and highly underrated when it comes to juicing, and fennel is packed with Vitamin C, it contains volatile oils that ease digestion in general and has a lovely mild licorice taste that goes oh-so-well with fruit. The addition of lemon not only contrasts the mildness of the two other ingredients but also adds a punch of alkalinity (yes, lemons are alkaline in our digestive systems even though they are acidic when eaten!) that our bodies need. Finally, galangal is a super immune-boosting root that is a good alternative to ginger, which I tend to overdose on during the colder months. If you don’t have galangal though, go ahead and use ginger. They aren’t perfect swaps for one another but in the case of this recipe, both work great.
As always, I highly recommend drinking fresh juices on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. Also, try using organic produce as much as possible. If you can’t get organic, then just make sure you peel the pears and thoroughly scrub the fennel.
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 1/2 fennel bulb, chopped into 4-5 pieces
- 1-inch piece of galangal, peeled
- 2 pears, cut up into chunks (seeds and all)
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
You have two options to make this juice.
1/ Put all the ingredients in a juice extractor and wait for this beautiful nectar to come out
2/ Blend everything in a regular blender and then filter it through a fine-mesh sieve
Drink immediately.
