Strawberry Watermelon Breakfast Juice

I am fortunate to have received a Vita-Mix blender as a gift last December along with a great book full of juice and smoothie recipes. For Mother's Day this past weekend I decided to make a fresh juice for everyone to start the brunch I was hosting at my house.

J found a juice recipe that sounded simple to make and delicious to drink, Watermelon Breakfast Juice. With just four ingredients (watermelon, ginger, mint, and lime juice,) it couldn't get any easier. So on Sunday, I followed the recipe and got some great feedback from my family: "it could be a little colder" - so I added some ice in the second batch - "too much ginger" - so I grated a little less in the second batch, and it was delicious. Everybody was happy. This juice was a hit and I've made it twice since then, with some modifications.

When brunch was over on Sunday, J and I were left with an abundance of watermelon - I bought a whole watermelon and only used about a third of it for the juice on Sunday, and an abundance of strawberries - due in part to my lack of planning. I asked my sister to bring dessert without any specification, so she brought angel food cake, strawberries, and whipped topping. And I asked my sister-in-law to bring fruit, again without much specification, so she brought a couple pounds of strawberries. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I decided to modify the watermelon breakfast juice recipe to try and use up some of the strawberry bounty in my kitchen, so now it's

Strawberry Watermelon Breakfast Juice
3 1/2 cups watermelon, cubed
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (~1 juicy lime)
7 or 8 fresh strawberries, untrimmed
1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped (optional, but recommended)
1/2 to 3/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
1/2 cup ice

Add watermelon, lime juice, strawberries, mint, ginger and ice to a blender and pulse until smooth. Do not blend for too long or it will get frothy. There is also no need to trim the leaves from the strawberries but do be sure to wash them first. For those with a powerful blender like a Vita-Mix or Blendtec, you probably dont even need to chop the mint or grate the ginger, but I do recommend it for better blending. I pulsed the juice six or seven times on the variable speed setting of 7 on my Vita-Mix and the juice came out perfect.

This recipe makes about two tall glasses of juice, or approximately 32 ounces.

Final thoughts: this juice is fantastic with or without mint, I've made it both ways; I do, however, think the mint balances everything out and adds some depth to the flavor of the juice. I also think this juice would be great with some vodka, rum or tequila, although I have yet to try it. Let me know what you think.