I look forward to pomegranate season all year. Now that it’s here, I’m looking for every conceivable way I can find to sneak pommies into my diet, on one condition: I like to keep them as unadulterated as possible, because a) if they’re just juiced or b) hidden, then a) I could just *buy* Pom juice no matter the season, or b) it’s basically WASTED!!
I bought a box of six pommies at Costco last Friday, and though I’ve been known to eat two poms (alone!) a day in the past, fructose fails to thrill me as it used to… I’m sure not giving up the red riot, however—think of the anti-oxidants! Think of the children! It would be a crime not to do my part and ingest at least as many poms as I have fingers and toes during this fine pomegranate season.
I find it really satisfying to shuck the poms: I do a couple at a time, my fingernail beds turn purple, and I play a game I call “no seed left behind”, in which the object is for me to save *every* unburst seed I can, while still chucking the too-soft, purpling ones. And when it’s all over… well, some #5 usually breaks out. And I give in. For the sake of the children… 😉
1. In a Pomegranate-Pear Fall Salad
2. As a garnish, ’cause they’re so pretty.
(This is the flourless chocolate cake I made for my neighbour’s 21st birthday on Sunday last… with a little whip cream on top. Hated the tip I used, but apparently, the dessert was a win!)
and you’ll remember this little beauty from last Friday—the apple-frangipane-pom tart:
3. In cupcakes!
I made these last year for a birthday—they’re grapefruit pomegranate cupcakes with grapefruit cream cheese frosting… and pomegranates FTW!
A-ha moment: every bite comes with a splash of pommie juice—they sink in the batter, but stay intact when baking. In fact, I think the batter is like a buffer, because I tossed some pommies into my pancake protein pancakes but the heat from the pan broke them down. Not so when baked in a cupcake! This one was a real winner, though I say it myself…
4. As a delightful mocktail:
I mortar-and-pestled some pomegranate seeds, and mixed the juice with sparkling water… tossing in some (floating? Cool! ) pom seeds as a garnish was delicious… though *nothing* looks appetizing in an iPhone pic, does it? 🙂
(Action shot!)
And… 5. With a spoon. 😀
Are you in pom-rhapsody, too? What seasonal treats do you look forward to?