Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Top 10 Ways to Reuse Pulp

I've gotten in the habit of using my juicer once a day, usually as part of my morning routine. I might skip a day on the weekends in favor of extra sleep. I also have been making a large bottle of almond milk about once a week. In this process I have made a lot of pulp. If you are a spend thrift like me, you don't want to see your produce and nuts going right down the disposal. It is wasteful, not only of our own resources, but of the earth's as well. The only problem is figuring out what you can do with stuff that looks like, well, basically mulch.

My first few times trying to reuse juicer pulp I tried reusing EVERYTHING. It is amazingly hard to figure out a recipe for a mixture of dried carrots, beets, apples, ginger, celery, lemon, kale, turmeric, and pineapple. It is just too much. Then I started to be more savvy about how I juice and began separating my pulp from the start.

Here are a few quick tips:

- When you go to juice, juice whatever you have the most of first. That way you will have a large amount of pulp from one ingredient. Take that out of your juicer and then juice the remaining ingredients. I usually save a lot of apple pulp, as it has a ton of both savory and sweet uses.

- Think of texture. Celery and ginger are stringy. This is fine if you are making something that lends itself to texture (I actually like celery pulp in my nuggets), but it can be unfortunate if it seems out of place.

- Pay attention color. You can only use beet pulp if you want something to look red. Otherwise don't bother. Carrots and greens should be considered for their color as well.

- What goes together can stay together. Greens are greens when it comes to pulp. Spinach, cilantro, kale, and collards can all be juiced together because most often you won't separate the flavors once they are together.

- If you can't use every last bit of pulp, use the bulk. Wasting a tiny leftover bit of pulp from a piece of ginger is better than trying to force it into a pizza crust where it will ruin a whole meal. Separate your pulps and use common sense.

Zucchini Noodles with Mixed Green Pulp Pesto 

Now, for my top 10 ways to reuse pulp:

1. Pesto. Pesto is specifically for your green pulp. The good news here is that most of the work is already done after you have juiced! Throw the pulp in a food processor with some hemp or sunflower seeds, a bit of nutritional yeast and some olive oil and you are set. Spiralize some zucchini noodles and top with your mixture for a fast week night dinner.

2. Nuggets. Leftover nut and juicer pulps can mix together to make great nuggets. I recommend leaving out the greens and adding a bit of organic corn. Then you can coat each bit in nutritional yeast and flax seeds and dehydrate for an awesome snack.

3. Bread. One of hardest things about raw food is the lack of bread. Adding some flax seeds to the carrot pulp you have can be a great solution. A dehydrator is needed for this one.

4. Cakes. Nut, apple, beet, or carrot pulp all make great additions to raw vegan cakes. Mix them together with raisins, dates, or coconut flakes. Using pulp for cakes is actually easier than using fresh fruit or veggies, because you typically want the dryness.

5. Pizza Crust. Raw pizza has become a staple for most of our Friday night dinners. After collecting a week's worth of pulp, what better way to celebrate than with a dehydrated pizza crust? Pile on as many fresh veggies as it can hold!

6. Cookies. Raw vegan cookies can be made with or without a dehydrator. Get creative!

7. Wraps. Apple pulp mixes especially well with young coconut meat to make a flexible tortilla style wrap.

8. Burgers. My favorite way to reuse beet pulp is with a dehydrated burger. Make sure you add onion and spices, and top with your favorite sauce.

9. Salad topping. Just about anything you juice can be dehydrated along with some herbs and spices to make a crumbly salad topping. Mix it up with nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes, or spirulina (if you want to up the health factor.)

10. Soup mix. Sometimes raw soups just seem to thin, but if you add a bit of mixed vegetable pulp to a blender full of more juicy veggies it will thicken right up! Just make sure you are combining good flavors and colors!

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