POM Wonderful recipes

The good folks over at POM Wonderful contacted me via my blog and asked if I would be interested in sampling a free case of their 100% authentic pomegranate juice. Well, who is going to turn down a free case of pomegranate juice?

Once it arrived, I was so excited to have 8 little 8-oz bottles of my very own! Now, the question was... what do I do with it? Oh sure, everyone has had pomegranate martinis. But, I knew that this potent juice had more punch to it than a measly martini. We have all heard about the wonderful cardiovascular and antioxidant benefits to pomegranate juice, so I wanted to give this juice some substance. So, off to work I went in the kitchen and, lucky you, you get four recipes for the price of one post!

My first choice was not very inventive, but I wanted to actually drink the juice. I added some chocolate protein powder and ice in a blender with one 8-oz bottle of POM Wonderful and was happily surprised to find that I had created a valentine day heart chocolate-tasting shake in a glass! Something about this reminded me of the creme-filled "pink" chocolates.

My next recipe was a bit more inventive. I searched online for some ideas and came up with this one. I modified it, as I always do to recipes. Instead of fire-roasted tomatoes, I used regular diced tomatoes and some Liquid Smoke. I used sugar free maple syrup instead of the real thing, omitted the marjoram (because I was out!) and I also replaced the beef with a veggie version, since I don't eat meat. (side note: Gardein Beefless Tips were perfect for this recipe!) So, my recipe went like this:

CROCK

POT POMEGRANATE BEEF

(this recipe has a lot of ingredients, but it is worth it!)

2 packages of Gardein Beefless tips (original recipe calls for 2 lbs of stew beef)

1 8-oz bottle of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

1 large onion, chopped

a bunch of minced garlic (I'm telling you, I don't follow recipes)

2 tbsp sugar free maple syrup

1 can diced tomatoes

a few shakes of Liquid Smoke

1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/4 c raisins (note: If you have them, I would use golden raisins for presentation purposes)

2 tsp rosemary, dried

1 tbsp basil, dried

2 bay leaves

2 tsp thyme, ground

2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat crock pot, add olive oil. Saute onions and garlic. Add meat (or substitute). Saute for a few minutes (or brown, if using beef). In a medium bowl, combine all other ingredients. Pour into crockpot and simmer for 6-8 hours. (since I wasn't cooking meat, I simmered for 3.)

I will tell you that I thickened this up slightly at the end with some cornstarch dissolved in water.

If you're trying to eliminate meat from some of your meals, you won't miss it in this dish. My meat-loving husband said, "I could sell this." I served it over brown rice, but it would have been just as amazing over egg noodles. It reminded me of a cross between a sauerbraten and a hearty pot roast. I have been craving this since I made it.

The next recipe that I tried was loosely based on this, but I made it much more basic and a lot more healthy.

MOROCCAN SHRIMP WITH POMEGRANATE SAUCE

In a saucepan, heat:

Two 8-oz bottles of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

1/4 c of lemon juice

6-8 packages of stevia

Thickening it with cornstarch, I heated it up and created a sauce.

Then, toss 1 lb of shrimp with:

3/4 tsp ground cuim

3/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tbsp olive oil

and then stick them on skewers on the grill. Served over brown rice (and I sauteed some spinach with garlic for the side), it was easy and delicious.

My last recipe was really winging it off of this idea. Here's what I did:

PUMPKIN POMEGRANATE SOUP

Chop 1 onion and saute. Add one peeled and chopped apple and saute together until soft. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and approximately 1/4 tsp of ginger and simmer for 20 minutes. Add one can of canned pumpkin, 1 8-oz bottle of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and 1 tsp of coriander and simmer for five minutes. Pull off heat, use a stick blender (told you that I love my stick blender!) to blend until smooth. Add one can of lite coconut milk. Stir until heated through. This was just amazing and filled me up, too. I might need to add this to all holiday menus.

I have three bottles left. I have a feeling that some of these recipes will be making a repeat performance! Hope that you enjoy them as much as I did.