How (And Why) to Eat a Pomegranate

Up until a couple of years ago, I knew virtually nothing about pomegranates, except that they were good for you. Then my friend Judy brought me a couple of them that she had grown herself. It was a great revelation to me that I could grow pomegranates in our part of the country. Now I have two trees in our yard. They've yet to produce an edible pomegranate, but I am excessively hopeful (see photo of one of my trees). The trees are still very young.

The other thing I didn't know is how to properly eat them. I always thought you were supposed to take each seed (called arils) and painstakingly gnaw the small layer of fruit off of each one. What a waste of time! Thankfully, I researched online and found that you're actually supposed to chew each aril. Still, the process of getting the arils out of the rind wore me out and left me splattered with unwashable red pomegranate dye. *Sigh*

Well, now I've had another breakthrough. It is pomegranate season somewhere, apparently, because they are showing up in our grocery stores. They're baseball sized and beautiful, unlike my golf-ball sized fruit still on the trees. And this time there was a stack of brochures next to them that shows the proper way to remove the arils. *Hallelujah* I can do this. See the scan I've made of the brochure for details (click on it to make it bigger), or you can e-mail me for a large, more legible copy. The brochure says that, besides eating them straight up, you can sprinkle them on green salads, yogurt, dry cereal, oatmeal, or your main dish. And they are full of good nutrients. Remember, the more colorful a fruit or vegetable is, the better it is for you.