Pomegranate juice, bottled

Bottled pomegranate juice has a deep red-purple color and a flavor that sits between tart and sweet, closer to cranberry than to orange juice. It is usually drunk chilled on its own, but it also reduces well on the stove into a thick, syrupy glaze for roasted chicken or lamb, gets whisked into vinaigrettes for a fruity acidity, and is a common base for cocktails and mocktails, either straight or topped with sparkling water. A splash stirred into plain seltzer makes a simple homemade soda with more depth than juice alone, and a small pour brightens up a fruit salad dressing.

Check the label for 100% juice versus a juice blend, since many bottled versions are diluted or sweetened with other fruit juices. Once opened, keep it refrigerated and use it within about a week, as it can start to ferment like other fresh juices. At 54 calories per 100 grams it runs lighter than many bottled fruit juices, with 13.1 grams of carbohydrate, and diluting it further with sparkling water is an easy way to stretch a bottle into a lower-calorie drink. Sodium is negligible at 9 milligrams per 100 grams, and protein is barely present at 0.15 grams per 100 grams, since it is a juice rather than a whole-fruit food.