I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve gotten lazy in the kitchen lately! It’s winter, the kids are back in school, and it’s usually just the kids and I for dinner. When my husband is home I usually let him do the cooking. This weekend my daughter got on a salad kick and I decided to play around in the kitchen with some RW Knudsen Just Juice that was sent to us.
I received 2 bottles of juice, one was Just Pomegranate and the other was Organic Just Tart Cherry. I had no clue what I wanted to do with either of these and I honestly stared at the bottles for almost a month before braving them in a recipe.
Did you know that Tart Cherry is good at bedtime for naturally relaxing your body? It’s a natural source of melatonin which can help you sleep better at night. I’m going to start offering a small glass to my daughter at dinnertime every night and see if it helps her wind down for bed. She is still my night owl and could stay up until midnight if I let her. I did try it mixed with hot green tea this weekend but she thought that was too tart (duh…it’s Tart Cherry).
The Just Pomegranate was the one that most excited me. RW Knudsen has a recipe for a Salmon with Blackberry Espresso Glaze that looks delicious, but I decided to use it as a marinade for chicken thighs and as a vinaigrette for a side salad. Both are essentially the same, just with different ratios of ingredients.
I’ll spare you the terrible photo I took of the chicken, it tasted much better than it looked! For the chicken marinade I mixed about 1/4 cup of Just Pomegranate with 1/4 cup of olive oil and about 1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar (I didn’t really measure this precisely – just eye balled it). I poured it over the chicken thighs and let them sit for 30-45 minutes before baking. They had a nice sweet flavor that I loved!!
The salad was almost like eating dessert! I am a sucker for a good vinaigrette dressing and I love making my own. You’ll need a good salad dressing shaker
For the side salad I used fresh small leaf spinach, feta, sliced almonds, and dried strawberries topped with the Pomegranate Vinaigrette. It was a perfect balance for the feta! I may have had 3 bowls of salad with my chicken, don’t judge! I told you it was like dessert!
Since I have some leftover vinaigrette, I’m going to try it on oven baked green beans tomorrow with slivered almonds. I think that will make a great side dish.
How would you cook with RW Knudsen Just Juice? What else would you pair with the Just Pomegranate?
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by RW Knudsen as part of their blog ambassador program.
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Yum! We’re a big salad family (my husband will have a second salad for dessert) and I love fruit added (which freaks out son out). Can’t wait to try making some of your vinaigrette!