OUR FAVORITE GREEN JUICES AND SMOOTHIES

DRINK DOWN A DELICIOUS DOSE OF DAILY GREENS. BY L.A. TIMES FOOD STAFF

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(MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times)

WITH AN abundance of seasonal fruit and vegetables available year-round, it’s no wonder Los Angeles is a destination for cold-pressed juices and produce-packed smoothies.

In 2007, Marjan Sarshar opened the first location of Kreation in Santa Monica, offering hand-pressed juices alongside healthy grab-and-go meals — the chain has since expanded with more than 25 stores across Southern California. Hayden Slater, Carly de Castro and Hedi Gores followed suit with the opening of Pressed Juicery in West L.A. in 2010. Now the brand has almost 100 locations across the U.S.

The benefits of juicing are debated — some argue that fruit contains high natural sugar content, while others encourage juicing as an easy stepping stone to embracing a healthier lifestyle.

When Salud Juice founder Angela Keen's father suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2012, juicing was a gateway that helped shift his relationship with food.

"I was trying to figure out preventative measures for this to never happen again, and I'm like, OK, how am I going to convince my dad, this Mexican machismo man, that he needs to eat better when his friends make fun of him if he eats a salad?" Keen said.

Keen bought a juicer for $5 at a garage sale and began researching and experimenting with recipes, at first masking the flavor of vegetables that her father would normally shy away from with fruit he already loved. They'd drink the juice together, raising their glasses to cheers, “Salud!”

Word quickly spread of Keen’s homemade juices, and soon she was delivering them to friends and coworkers out of her VW bus. After a year, she outgrew her home and moved into a commercial kitchen. In 2015, she opened the first location of Salud Juice on 4th Street and Cherry Avenue in her hometown of Long Beach.