Eat Fresh - Pomegranates

Published October 11, 2006 in The Spectrum & Daily News

By Kathryn van Roosendaal

If there is a fruit for Utah’s Dixie, it’s the pomegranate. It’s not an official crop here and there is no Pomegranate Festival, but the little trees are everywhere. They’ve been here since about 1847, according to local folklore, brought back by the Mormon Battalion when they returned from southern California. And while our Dixie pomegranates tend to be smaller than commercially grown ones, they make up for it in taste.

Many would-be connoisseurs are intimidated by pomegranates. They are an odd fruit and the edible seeds are difficult — and messy — to get to. What’s more, the juice stains anything and everything it touches. But you needn’t fear the pomegranate — there are tricks to getting at the delicious seeds without being marred by the juice.

If you are particular about what you are wearing, put on an apron and some gloves. First, loosen the seeds by rolling the fruit on the counter with the palm of your hand. Press firmly, but not hard enough to squish the fruit. Then carefully cut the crown off of the pomegranate and make four slices down the sides of the fruit, cutting through the rind but not the seeds inside. Next, place the pomegranate in a bowl of cool water so that the fruit is completely covered. Gently pull the fruit apart under the water, separating the seeds from the rind and the white pith. The pith will float to the top; just skim it off, then drain the seeds through a colander. Voila! Pomegranate seeds!

To get the juice from a pomegranate, you have a few options. The first is roll the fruit on the counter, this time hard enough to squish it. Then make a small hole in the skin and squeeze the fruit over a bowl. Or you can put the seeds in a blender, liquefy, then pour through a cheesecloth to remove the seeds. Yet another method is to cut the fruit in half and squeeze it on a citrus reamer like you would a grapefruit, although that tends to get rather messy.

Dixie Salad

This salad was invented in the early 1900s when a guest speaker for a Housekeepers Convention was unable to find the ingredients to her recipe. Locals scrambled and came up with local ingredients, including the pomegranate. Since the recipe ran in the St. George Magazine in 2003, I have received dozens of calls asking for it. So here it is:

1 1/2 cups diced apples

1 1/2 cups pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup seedless raisins

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup almonds

1 1/2 cup creamy salad dressing

Gently mix all ingredients and let marinate for half and hour. Serve chilled.

Modifications

This recipe has been liberally messed with ever since it was developed. My personal favorite is as follows:

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cup diced apples

Cool Whip and/or vanilla yogurt

Mix the ingredients together with just enough Cool Whip, yogurt or an equal mixture of both to make a goopy salad.