Kale cleanse green juice

Kale is a fibrous leaf with little juice: on its own it yields very little liquid. The rule is therefore to always pair it with a water-rich vegetable — cucumber, celery — and a fruit that softens it, apple or pineapple. Roll the leaves into a tight ball before feeding them into the chute: they go through far better and extraction is more complete. Then alternate firm and tender ingredients, which helps the machine push the fibre along. And keep the stems: they are juicier than the leaves, you simply need to cut them into lengths.

A good green juice rests on a simple balance: around two thirds green vegetables and one third fruit, no more, to avoid a drink that is too sweet. The most reliable base combines a watery vegetable (cucumber or celery), a green leaf (kale, spinach, chard), a fresh herb (parsley, coriander, mint) and a low-sugar fruit (green apple, lemon). Then add whatever gives definition: ginger, fresh turmeric, a pinch of salt. Drink it within half an hour, ideally on an empty stomach, because juice oxidises quickly once extracted.

With an auger juicer the logic shifts slightly compared with a centrifugal machine: the slow rotation heats less and better preserves fragile compounds, but it does require alternating textures so as not to clog the machine. A recipe that works well: one cucumber, four or five large rolled kale leaves, a handful of parsley, a green apple, half a peeled lemon and three centimetres of ginger. Feed in half the apple first, then the leaves, then the cucumber, and finish with the rest of the apple, which pushes the remaining fibre through. Expect around 400 ml of juice.