The majority of my recipes lately come together out of being hungry and wanting to use up something I have in the fridge or pantry.  It’s not always amazing – I have plenty of flops.  But sometimes it’s tasty enough that I can envision multiple uses for it! This is one of those times. Sure, this recipe has a good amount of sugar in it but at least the sugar comes from fruit (the juice I use is pure fruit & water) and there’s a crapload of fiber and antioxidants in it.

This fruit compote can be used two ways, sweet and savory.  I really love the savory version – something about rosemary, ginger, butter and shallots with the tangy sweetness of the fruit is just delicious.

The sweet version can be used as an alternative to canned cranberry sauce (though less sweet), a topping for oatmeal or even as a topping for a pie. I’m thinking it would also be delicious on vanilla ice cream if heated up! The savory version is awesome to top baked/broiled salmon, as a sauce for dipping chicken in (I’d probably puree it for that purpose) or served with pork chops.  I’m sure you can come up with some more delicious options!

The great thing about this is that it takes just about 10 minutes to make the sweet version and then to make the savory version, you just add a few more ingredients and cook for another few minutes.  Easy peasy way to add a ton of flavor (and look fancy) to a meal.

Ingredients
Option 1 (Sweet)
1 cup fresh organic cranberries, washed
7-8 sulfite free prunes, chopped
3 tbsp dried goji berries
4 oz unsweetened organic apple sauce
8 oz organic 100% juice cranberry or pomegranate blend (I used knudson’s blueberry pomegranate blend but I think their cranberry or other red blends can work fine)

Option 2 (Savory)
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1 large shallot, minutes
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tbsp unsalted pasture butter
sea salt to taste

Directions
Put all the ingredients for the Sweet version in a small pot and slowly bring a boil.  Simmer, stirring occasionally until the cranberries start to pop and the mixture thickens. This should take about 10 minutes start to finish. Turn down the heat if it seems to be losing liquid too quickly (you can always add a little more juice).  You can use right away for sweet uses but it will be more firm if you refrigerate it for at least an hour.

To make the savory version, remove the sweet version from the pan and place in a small bowl.  Put the pan back on the burner and melt the butter.  When the butter is melted, add the shallots, rosemary and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally until the rosemary is fragrant and the shallots are lightly browned (2-3 minutes).  Stir in the sweet compote and add sea salt to taste.  Stir to distribute the salt and savory ingredients and remove from heat when it is heated through (will take just a couple minutes if you are reheating cold compote from the fridge).  Use for savory uses right away.

Makes 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups of compote.