Roasted Beet Salad with Valencia Orange Dressing

A salad that is bursting with fresh seasonal summer flavors, it's like summer exploded in your mouth!

You guys may have figured out by now, I love the color Magenta, it is my signature color! So how could I NOT love beets, they dye my hands and everything they touch magenta! YAY! Besides their awesome hue they're sugary sweet and good for me! I was inspired after going to a restaurant and ordering roasted beet salad, with orange vinaigrette and goat cheeese. I mean how awesome does that sound? Sweet salty, slightly acidic and creamy! WOAH! But when I got this salad for me, it totally fell flat. It was some roasted beets cubed and tossed with field greens and almost creamy orange dressing, that really didn't taste that orangy. Then there were no orange slices as garnish- FOR SHAME!

Citrus IPA Poundcake #beermonth

What is an IPA you may say? (That is what my mom said to me anyways) IPA stands for India Pale Ale. IPA's belong under the larger umbrella style of Pale Ales, meaning that they use pale colored malts. The IPA is known to be a hoppy beer so you really taste the hops more than the malt. Digging deeper than that, the type of hops you use can bring out certain characteristic flavors and aromas. Many hops can bring out citrusy flavors naturally, so that is where the idea for this recipe came in...

IPA's are a hot style right now, with Double IPA's (also known as an Imperial IPA) and Triple IPA's trending I thought I would need to experiment with this style. To bring out the citrusy notes in the IPA I have wanted to make this pound cake for a WHILE now, to experiment and make something memorable with it.

It's good to have friends that brew craft beer! My friend Matt from Outer Lands Brewing Company asked me to try their Good Mojo IPA. It was the day after a beer festival, I didn't wanna look at beer or even drink it, but I took a taste. It's nicely balanced, not bitter at all with great citrus notes. Exactly what I needed for this recipe! For a non IPA drinker or someone that does not like a bitter IPA this craft  is for YOU.

Shock Top Belgian White Citrus Cupcakes

Why is this a Foodgasm?

For Beer Month so far I have done a whole lotta Guinness recipes, I knew it was time for something different. On a recent shopping trip I picked up some of these Shock Top Belgian White beers and I really like this type of beer. This is a Belgian style wheat ale with real orange, lemon and lime peel and spiced with coriander. I love a little twist on a classic and a good fruity beer. I knew I had to try a cupcake with this one, it screams dessert!

So to make this EASY I used a cake mix. To reduce the fat I used egg whites for the cupcakes and used a 50/50 blend of butter and smart balance for the frosting.

Imagine- just imagine...cupcakes made with this beer and then infused with orange and lemon zest, whip on some lemon frosting and then sprinkle with some orange zest. This is sweet, creamy, with the nice acidity of the lemon and the creaminess of the icing with the occasional zing from orange zest in the cake and sprinkled on top.

So not only does this baby have beer, it is reduced fat, creamy and easy to make- YUP this is a definite foodgasm!