Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Picked me a mess of these this morning. Note to self: prune tree so I can reach the fruit next year.
No need to be intimidated by the thought of getting juice from a messy pomegranate. The task isn't much more difficult than making orange juice if you use one of these. The juice is thick and a bit tart, which I prefer, but it can easily be sweetened or lightened with an ounce or two of water.
Pomegranate juice contains three times the anti-oxidants of red wine and green tea. As painful as that is to say out loud, please remember that red wine has resvaritrol. Best of all pomegranate juice has a remarkable ability to reduce unhealthy cholesterol levels in the blood while boosting the good cholesterol.
Unfortunately, like orange juice, the down side is that pomegranate juice is loaded with carbohydrates and sugars. It also contains Vitamin K, folate, Vitamin E and pantothenic acid. Dietary minerals within the juice include potassium, manganese, magnesium, and calcium.
SIDEBAR:
- Grenadine syrup, which is made from pomegranate juice, drizzled into the finished drink is what puts the sunrise in a Tequila Sunrise and also defines a good Singapore Sling.
- Most commercial grenadine syrup is no longer made from pomegranate juice (I'm looking at you, Rose). It is icky old high fructose corn syrup and red dye number 40. The good nukes? We can still find real grenadine syrup and it often isn't any more expensive than the fake stuff.
- King Solomon made spiced pomegranate wine.
- The Jewish culture holds that the 613 seeds found in a pomegranate represent the 613 commandments of the Torah.
- Eve didn't eat the apple in the Garden of Eden, it was a pomegranate from the Tree of Life. Scoff if you will, but apples need at least 700 hours of winter chill to thrive, something you won't find in Mediterranean climates.
As Always,
TWC