Monkey Nuggets

Or, What to Do with All That Juicer Pulp.

I got this idea from one of Dan the Man’s “Healthy on a Budget” episodes. See the original video here.

I like to use the pulp from celery, kale, carrots, citrus, cucumber, spinach, ginger, etc. to mix up these tasty nuggets, and add nuts or seeds to take it up a level. Kale, cucumber, and celery are the heart of this—so healthful as juices, and their pulp provides a rich green background for the flavors you’ll add. Vary the mix to get different tastes. Imagine…dandelion, cucumber, garlic, and red chilies, with lemon. Kale, tart apples, walnuts, and celery. Carrots with poppy seeds and hemp.

Having done this once, I now find it hard to toss my daily juicer pulp out to the hens. Taste the pulp to see if it will be good dressed up. Your body will appreciate the fiber, and you’ll have instantly created two or three meals out of one.

Basic recipe:

(adjust all quantities to suit your purposes)

1-2 cups juicer pulp (from green vegetable juice)

½ tbsp coconut oil

¼ tsp sea salt

A few leaves of dulse, torn up

Fresh onion to taste (don’t be scared…use a whole onion!)

1 or 2 tbsp nuts or seeds (your choice)

My food processor is elderly and small, so I do this in two stages. If yours is larger or more vigorous, you can process all the ingredients together.

First, chop the onions, dulse, and nuts in the food processor. You may also add fresh herbs, hot peppers, or some spinach leaves at this point.

In a separate bowl, combine the juicer pulp with coconut oil and salt. Begin with small amounts—you can always add more, but you can’t take it out. Massage it all together, then add the onion-nuts-dulse-mixture.

Taste the mixture. Is it good? does it need more salt, a little spice? Fix it up to your taste.

Form the mixture into patties or “cakes” and enjoy with tomatoes, lettuce, cashew-miso mayo, etc. Or use it as a filling for mushrooms, peppers, chard rollies, etc. Flavors will develop if you refrigerate it an hour or two—just bring it back to room temp to serve.

Now then…additions & variations:

Cheery (not crabby) Cakes: Stir in extra dulse, and add some seafood seasoning or crab boil spices.

Cozumel: Make sure there’s some lime in the juicer pulp, use pumpkin seeds and chili peppers, and season with a little cumin and cilantro.

Thai: Cashews, garlic, chilies, basil, and cilantro.

Icaria: Lemon, sprouted lentils, sesame seeds, a couple oil cured olives, oregano, a smidge of olive oil.

Waldorf: Granny smith apples, parsley, and walnuts.

Tu-not: nori or wakame flakes instead of dulse, black sesame seeds, a bit of miso paste, nutritional yeast. Serve with pickled ginger and a schmear of wasabi!

Island: orange and lime pulp, shredded coconut, jerk seasoning.

Carrot Cake: make juice with carrots, apples, celery, lemon, and ginger. Blend the pulp with coconut oil, cinnamon, more ginger, one or two dates, currants and walnuts. Form into little cakes and roll in shredded coconut.