With the holidays upon us, Food & Nutrition’s recipe developers cooked up a beautiful spread of secretly nutritious snacks, sweets and mocktails that are sure to entertain guests! Find our other “Festive Fete” recipes here.
Servings: 10
Serving size: ¾ cup
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 3-inch piece peeled fresh ginger
- 2½ cups (600 milliliters) 100-percent cranberry juice
- 3 star anise, broken into pieces
- ¾ cup (180 milliliters) water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2½ cups (600 milliliters) clementine or mandarin juice (about 3½ pounds of fruit)
- 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes*
- 2 cups (480 milliliters) sparkling water
- ½ cup, plus 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Slice ginger into ⅛-inch to ¼-inch-thick pieces.
- Place ginger in a 4-quart pot with cranberry juice, star anise, water, sugar and citrus juice. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat after 45 minutes, add pepper flakes, stir and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour juice into a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl. Discard solids and refrigerate liquid for 2 hours or until cold.
- Add sparkling water to the juice and stir.
- Divide liquid equally into 10 glasses, distribute pomegranate seeds and add ice cubes.
*Aleppo peppers have unique fruity notes, but red pepper flakes can be used as a substitute.
Cooking note: To make this recipe with alcohol, replace sparkling water with 2 cups dry sparkling white wine, prosecco or cava.
Nutrition per serving (without alcohol): CALORIES 85; TOTAL FAT 0g; SAT. FAT 0g; CHOL. 0mg; SODIUM 3mg; CARB. 21g; FIBER 1g; SUGARS 19g; PROTEIN 1g; POTASSIUM N/A; PHOSPHORUS N/A Note: Fresh orange juice used in place of clementine juice in analysis.
Nutrition per serving (with alcohol): CALORIES 126; TOTAL FAT 0g; SAT. FAT 0g; CHOL. 0mg; SODIUM 5mg; CARB. 24g; FIBER 1g; SUGARS 22g; PROTEIN 1g; POTASSIUM N/A; PHOSPHORUS N/A
Michele Redmond, MS, RDN, FAND is a French-trained chef and “Food Enjoyment Activist” who specializes in flavor development, food culture diversity and culinary nutrition through online classes, training events and consulting. She directs TheTasteWorkshop.com in Scottsdale, AZ. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.