Pomegranate Season - give them a try!!!!

So It's pomegranate season! I've learned to really enjoy these delicious fruits. Some people only drink the juice, but I prefer eating the arils (the fleshy seeds containing the juice) whole. Today I added them to a salad! I've also heard of them being added to soups.

The arils come with most of the fiber and more antioxidants than you can get just from the juice. 1/2 a cup of arils is about 80 calories, with 5g of fiber, only 5mg of sodium and 180mg of potassium. A whole pomegranate is about 3.5 of those servings.

They can be a little expensive, but frequently around mid to late October, I often see 10 for $10 sales at my local grocery stores. Since they're normally about $2 a piece, that's a nice deal!!

Pomegranates can be a little intimidating, since they're a little tough to get the seeds from. The first time I tried, it was a disaster! I've learned how to do it right, though, and it's not hard at all. A little time consuming, but worth the effort. :bigsmile:

Here's an easy 3-step method for getting the seeds (from http://www.pomegranates.org/nomess.html) :

1) Cut off the crown, then cut the pomegranate into sections (vertical, not horizontal)
2) Place the sectinos in a bowl of water, the roll out the arils with your fingers - discard everything else. Most of the pulp/membrane should float to the surface. I'll periodically stir up the water so that the membrane pieces float up and I'll fish them out.
3) Strain out the water, then enjoy!

There are plenty of you-tube videos that demonstrate this, if you want to watch. (That's what I did :flowerforyou: ) There are other methods out there - so if you don't like the water method, you can look for other videos to find something that you find easier.

I encourage everyone to try a pomegranate!! Even if you don't like pomegranate juice, give the arils a try - in my opinion the whole arils are much yummier. (I don't really like the juice - I'll only drink it added to other juices/smoothies.)