4th of July BBQ

A little while ago, Pom Wonderful sent me a sample box of their delicious 100% pomegranate juice to try out in some recipes. It took me a while to get the time to test some recipes out, but what I came up with was totally worth it!!

I decided to try out some recipes to have on 4th of July. What I came up with was smokey pomegranate BBQ sauce and pomegranate limeade cupcakes. Both were amazing with the addition of tart pomegranate juice.

Grilled Gardein chik'n with pomegranate BBQ sauce and homemade pasta salad

Pomegranate BBQ sauce
Ingredients:

• 1 c Pom 100% pomegranate juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 1-1.5 tbsp molasses
• 2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce
• 2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• Salt to taste

 Directions:

• Combine all of the ingredients together in a sauce pan
• Let simmer and thicken about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Once thickened, brush on your favorite food and grill!

Next up, we have these:

Pomegranate limeade cupcakes

For the cake
Ingredients:

• 2 1/8 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/8 c sugar
• 1/2 c oil
• 3/4 c non-dairy milk (I use almond)
• 3/4 c limeade
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and have about 20 muffin cups ready
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
• In another bowl, combine sugar, oil, non-dairy milk, limeade, vanilla, zest, and juice and mix well.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and make sure everything is mixed really well.
• Fill each muffin cup about 1/4 of the way full and bake for 15-20 mins or until brown and a tooth pick comes out clean.
• Let cool.

Pomegranate buttercream frosting
Ingredients:

• 3 3/4 c powdered sugar
• 1/2 c non-dairy margarine softened (I like Earth Balance soy free)
• 4 tbsp pomegranate juice
• A couple drops of red food coloring (This is optional, but without it, the frosting is kind of brown and not pretty.)

Directions:

• Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
• Beat on medium speed until it starts becoming fluffy and thick
• Add more sugar or juice as needed to achieve a thick fluffy frosting
• Frost cupcakes!

These cupcakes are amazing. They were a huge hit with non-vegans and tasted like a little bite of summer!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and a great summer to come!