Pomegranates: How to deseed with this fun, stress reliever.

I may be from Georgia but I most certainly prefer the cooler temps of living more north. I’ve noticed within the past two weeks that one of my favorite fruits is now being heavily stocked at the grocery store, pomegranates. Many moons ago this fruit was called the apple of Grenada, and if you’re French you simply call it pomme-grenade. No matter the title, this fruit is delicious, versatile for cooking and drink making (hello pomegranate wine), and full of amazing health benefits. The arils, which are the edible seeds that contain the juice, are practiced in Ayurvedic medicine and are said to be a tonic for the heart and throat. It is also highly recommended to partake of this fruit often if you consume a mostly sweet-fatty diet as the astringent properties of the juice balance the effects of high blood sugar. There are some who should avoid this fruit, however. If you are pregnant it is strongly recommended that you NOT consume this fruit as it can cause spontaneous abortion. Also, if you suffer from GERD, or any other issues relating to stomach acid, avoid this fruit and its juice as the pH is 3.

More benefits of this super food are that the seeds are high in fiber, 20% of DV in 100 mg, but you must consume the seeds in order to digest the fiber. The arils also contain a small percentage (10% or higher) of vitamin C, K, and folate, which we need during the cold winter months. Depending on the ripeness of the fruit the arils can taste tart or sweet. In the picture above I focused in on the stamen cluster, that will be a good indicator of having a good fruit or one to put back. If the center part looks dried out and generally unappealing, keep perusing. If it looks healthy and soft, and the exterior skin isn’t bruised, you’ve got a good fruit to enjoy.

So I’m going to walk you through the steps of deseeding this gorgeous fruit. I found on the internets two ways of doing this but I decided to marry the two versions into one that is quick and, might I say, quite great at getting out some tension.

What you need:

large bowl full of water left in the sink

a sharp knife

a heavy metal spoon, I use my metal ladle

First you want to score the outside layer of the skin, don’t cut all the way through or you will cut into some arils and we want to leave them intact. Then you should be able to separate the fruit into two halves. I love the star shape of the arils in this pic, it made me feel like a star, I am a star.

Next you want to hold one half of the fruit in your palm, skin side up, and grab your heavy spoon. Hold your hand just over the bowl of water and start beating that fruit like it owes you money. This is very therapeutic, maybe, but it will keep you from doing it to someone else. Never hit someone with a spoon! You will notice that the arils will start falling into the bowl of water along with the white pith. Here’s another great part, the arils are heavy from the juice and will sink to the bottom of the bowl while the pith, being light, will float on the water. So it’s easy to use a slotted spoon or your hand to scoop the pith out of the bowl.

After removing all the non-aril material, drain the seeds in a colander and store in an air-tight container in the fridge. These are fantastic mixed into yogurt or tuna salad, on top of salads or oatmeal, added to smoothies, heck, cook some chicken breast and put them on top during the final few minutes of cooking. As Dr. Steve Brule says, “For your health!”