I needn’t have worried. Our guest deftly set each one on the counter cut off its circular cap containing the crown-like calyx. Then he scored the leathery sides in six places where the thin white membranes, radiating from the center, meet the peel. Next he gently pulled these segments away from the center to expose the hundreds of glistening red seed capsules. The last step, picking out these arils, as they are called, was child’s play and clean-up took only a minute.
That evening we discovered the pleasure of eating pomegranate seeds - first the crunch, followed by a spurt of delicious sweet-tart juices. Our guest prepared a wonderful Persian salad of goat cheese garnished with seeds lightly seasoned with angelica powder (available in health food stores and in oriental markets as Dang Gui). It was unlike any cheese or salad course I’d ever eaten.
I’ve since found numerous opportunities to strew these brilliant bits of fruit flavor on salads, vegetable dishes and desserts. Pomegranate seeds keep so well in the refrigerator they can quickly become an indispensable ingredient in the pantry of cooks who prize natural foods. The last test: would they be on breakfast cereal ? Absolutely!
Steamed Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts
http://www.chezm.com/welcome-to-recipes/44-vegetable-dishes/686-brussels-sprouts-walnuts-pomegranate-seeds
Most consumers walk right past these shiny, red apple-like fruits in the supermarket on their way to purchase the juice which is heavily advertised in the media. Ten years ago, the pomegranate was considered an exotic fruit. Once word of its nutritional properties were published, health conscious consumers sought it out. Pomegranate juice is now ‘superfruit’, recently rated a more effective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory than red wine (who knew?), You can add generous amounts of potassium, folic acid and iron to the list of nutritional properties as well. This is hardly news to practitioners of herbal medicine in the Middle East, India, South East Asia and China where pomegranate trees have been cultivated for thousands of years. Ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts refer to the pomegranate as a “pharmacy unto itself”. http://www.chezm.com/welcome-to-recipes/44-vegetable-dishes/686-brussels-sprouts-walnuts-pomegranate-seeds
An extreme dessert: Frozen Pomegranate Kefir with Pomegranate Molasses and seeds.
With several brands competing for market share, shoppers are advised to check the information on content labels for pomegranate juice and pomegranate concentrate to make sure the nutrients are present.. Here are some guidelines:
1. Choose bottles containing fresh fruit juices over those made from reconstituted concentrate.
2. Look for organic juices that contain the phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals not found in conventionally raised fruit.
3. Check pomegranate concentrate labeling for reasonable levels of vitamins and mineral retained when juices are concentrated using a high vacuum/low temperature method. Concentrate reduced over heat will contain few or no health benefits
.