How to Eat a Pomegranate and why you really need to.

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I have walked passed pomegranates for years in the markets and not given them a second thought. If you can't pick it up and take a bite out of it well, who has the time for that? Not until my mom {again with my mom and her influence on my healthy eating habits} brought home a few from a farmers market.... maybe it was Sprouts, anywhoo, I watched her break one open and pop out the crimson colored translucent seeds and was fascinated. I've been hooked ever since. Waiting patiently, not a virtue of mine, for October when pomegranates begin to show themselves on the produce stands.

For 3 short months through the Fall and Winter holidays you can enjoy this amazing fruit. It's gorgeous crimson color makes it absolutely perfect to show off in holiday meals, making any salad or dessert POP with color and tang. But it's the health benefits that made me a fan for life.

Pomegranates date back hundreds of years as all good food does. Hippocrates himself used to recommend them to treat a number of disorders and ailments like eye infections, digestive health and morning sickness.
Nowadays pomegranates are known for their amazing antioxidant properties probably in part to POM juice. They are vital to a healthy immune system ridding the body of all sorts of toxins and free radicals. Sounds hokey? Free radicals are attributed to early signs of aging, persistent illnesses, cardiovascular disease and most cancers.

O.K. so if you're anything like me maybe you too have never bought or eaten a pomegranate.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to easily eat one without making a big mess of it.

First, cut open the pomegranate lengthwise down the middle. (not from top to bottom)
Admire how pretty it is.
Use a cutting board that won't stain, the juices are pretty but hard to remove.

Fill a large bowl with cool water. Place the cut pomegranate into the bowl. Gently break apart the sections, the seeds easily pop out. It is easiest to do this under water so you

a) Don't make a huge mess with the juice
b) the seeds are much easier to get out under water
c) the white skin will float to the top making it easy to scoop out.

This is just showing you what you will be doing under water so you can see easier.

The seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the white 'skin' will float. Gently swish the seeds around to release any more skin. Using your fingers or a small sieve, scoop out the skin.

Drain the water and pop the tart and sweet seeds into your mouth!
My mom chews the seeds in the middle, but I can't get past it so I spit them out.
My 5 and 6 year old boys love pomegranates!

I've seen recipes in the past where people sprinkle pomegranate seeds onto salads and baked goods or even pastas. I like to eat them all by themselves or on the side of my salad.

I love the contrast between the tangy sweetness of the pomegranates paired with this chicken-fennel salad.

Enjoy!