I’m one of those weird people craves tomato juice when I’m on an airplane.  It just sounds so delicious, nutritious, and satisfying when I’m flying the friendly skies.  So imagine my shock when I decided to take a look at the nutrition facts on the back of my spicy tomato juice during my last flight.  It had a total of 1600 mg of sodium—in just one beverage!  The American Heart Association recommends having no more than 2400 mg of sodium per day—so that one drink could have potentially contained well over half of my entire daily intake.

I felt duped.  There is no need to have that much refined sodium in anything, let alone a delicious tomato juice.  So when I got home, I decided to search for my own recipe for spicy tomato juice—on that didn’t contain an obscene amount of refined sodium but rather utilized the potency of my natural, unrefined salt that contains less sodium than the refined version undoubtedly used in that can of juice.

I found this recipe on Martha Stewart’s website—she must have had the same experience I did and was so fed up that she made this marvelous recipe that requires only ¼ teaspoon of salt for a recipe that two people can enjoy.

The recipe calls for a food processor and juicer.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender.  If you don’t have a juicer, borrow one from your neighbor.  They’ll understand.  If they don’t, skip the celery and just add ½ cup of water.  And consider making new neighbor friends.

3 stalks of celery, leaves attached
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon celery seed (even if you use Windy City Celery, still add the celery seed. No one wins when you skimp on flavor.)
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of your favorite Beyond the Shaker salt (Windy City Celery, Hot Habanero, Citrus Basil, or Chef’s Blend are all awesome in this recipe)
2 red chile peppers, for garnish (optional)

Juice the heck out of the celery stalks so you can get about 1/2 cup of juice (yep, you can juice celery. Seemed crazy to us too).  Pour into the bowl of your processor or into your blender.  Toss the chopped tomatoes, jalapeno, lemon juice, celery seed, black pepper, and of course, your favorite Beyond the Shaker salt.   I used the Windy City Celery Salt, but you could really use any Beyond the Shaker salts mentioned in this recipe.  Of course, Hot Habanero Blend really can add a ton of spicy kick!

Process/blend until fairly smooth, but keep some of that thick texture that makes tomato juice so satisfying.  Garnish with chile peppers, if you’d like, or perhaps olives, pickles, another stalk of celery—go crazy!  It’s natural, it’s delicious, and it’s yours.

Related posts:

1. Some Interesting Insights on Salt and Sodium Intake
2. Driving By Refined Salt Headquarters (Table Salt v. Unrefined Salt)
3. Windy City Celery Salt – Pickles and Bloodys
4. Popcorn: A miraculous snack (and salt delivery system)
5. Chicago-style Hot Dog: A Culinary Icon