Homemade Tomato Juice

Tomatoes are an excellent source of antioxidants...Vitamin A, C, and K, folic acid and fiber. Juicing increases the absorption because you break the tough cell wall of the vegetable...err...fruit? Tomatoes also help prevent cancer (especially prostate and pancreas), heart healthy, a natural anti-inflammatory, and aid in lowering your cholesterol.

I've been told that tomato juice is a hangover cure. Yet to be tested since the last thing I want to do when I have a date with the toilet bowl all morning is stand over my juicer making fresh tomato juice. A handful of my guy friends that I work with flew in from our Detroit office and we met up at the bars two nights this week and partied until midnight. Another night we celebrated a retirement party. I overdid those nights but surprisingly did not get hungover. Will report back on this theory another time.

One night I was hungry and getting close to going over my allotted calorie count for the day so I decided to whip up a glass of homemade tomato juice. Juicing is easy, quick, and the health benefits of fresh juice are numerous. I am aware that sharing this recipe during the months of July-September would have made more sense but they were on sale and ended up in my cart during my last grocery trip to Whole Foods.

The taste is nothing like V8 and much more refreshing. It would be perfect for a Summer morning or a recovery kinda morning. Enjoy!

Homemade Tomato Juice

Adapted from: The Best of Raw Food

Makes 2 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 3 large tomatoes
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/2 cucumber (peeled is optional)
• ginger (1/4 inch)
• 1/2 lemon, peeled
• 1 jalapeño 
• black pepper, to taste

And Action:

Run all of the ingredients through the juicer. Add the black pepper to taste.