I confess I've never squeezed a real pomegranate before. I found them intimidating. I used to look at them in the produce section but never had the guts to buy one and find out how to eat it. I've had the juice before and have ordered dishes with pomegranate in them from restaurants but have just never gotten around to investigating them up close and personal for myself until now.
This is my entry for Cate of Sweetnick's, ARF/5-A-Day blogging event featuring antioxidant rich foods. The pomegranate definitely fits that category. Loaded with Vitamin C, A, and E, and folic acid, it's a powerhouse fruit. Studies have shown that the fruit can lower lipid profiles in diabetics with hyperlipidemia (too much fat in the blood), and increases blood flow to the heart while lowering cholesterol profiles in both healthy patients and those diagnosed with heart disease. In one article that summarizes five studies, it states that pomegranates increase levels of nitric oxide in the blood, which dilates the vessels allowing blood to flow more easily which also assists in lowering systolic (the top number) blood pressure and pomegranate also reduces plaque build-up by as much as 30%. The same article also suggests eating/drinking daily pomegranate can positively affect erectile dysfunction. Holy Blood Flow, Batman! Forget Viagra and Cialys, just slug back pomegranate juice frequently and regularly to...uh..affect other things in life you'd like to do frequently. Okay, seriously that might have a little merit because blood doesn't just flow to the heart, you know.
I can't take credit for suddenly becoming pomegranate brave. Auntie Miranda sent me home with a bag full of goodies to play with last week that included a pomegranate. I had to look up on the internet how to cut, carve, squeeze, eat it but it was worth the time. Since I was wanting to primarily juice it, I took one particular piece of advice. I cut off the end, squeezed as much of the juice and seeds as I could into the pitcher of my blender, and then scraped out the rest of the seeds with a table knife.
I do have to mention that everything you've ever heard about pomegranate's mightly ability to stain anything in it's path is true. It's the superhero of staining stuff. One second of contact equal 5 minutes of soaking with Clorox. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but only slightly.
Once I had all the juice and seeds I could get out of the bowl of the fruit, I whizzed the whole thing up in the blender until it was a mass of thick pulp. Then, I simply drained it all through a fine mesh sieve and ended up with about 1/3 cup of beautiful gem-red juice. Lovely all by itself and quite tasty.
For the Martini, simply take equal part of juice and regular, raspberry, or orange-flavored vodka and shake or stir over ice until chilled.
For a just as refreshing non-alcoholic version, serve equal parts of the juice and Sprite over ice. I suggest that shaking Sprite probably isn't that good of an idea.
Enjoy.
The color of that pomegranate juice is just beautiful! We saw pomegranate trees all over southern Italy, but I think we just barely missed the season for them. darn.
Posted by: girlie | February 06, 2007 at 02:32 PM
Last time when I got its juice, wasn't difficult, but darn messy! Love the idea of pomegrante and vodka... will see lots of wild bunnies running around ;P
Posted by: gattina | February 07, 2007 at 04:11 AM
I can't believe that color!
Posted by: Rachel | February 07, 2007 at 07:44 PM
You did it! You invented a healthy martini!!! :):)
Posted by: sher | February 07, 2007 at 09:05 PM
Wonderful color. Great idea. I want a pitcher.
Posted by: Mimi | February 08, 2007 at 07:14 AM
Girlie--I'm so jealous! That's very cool. You'll have to take pics sometime when they are growing on the trees.
Rachel--It is beautiful, isn't it? Of course, I did have a little help from a high powered flashlight to bring out the true glow.
Gattina--You can see whatever you want to see running around! It's your martini.
Sher--I know! You can justify this one all the way to the doc.
Mimi--Gladly. Come on over to my house and we'll make a pitcher and curl up on a couch out in the sunroom and have girls night.
Posted by: Glenna | February 08, 2007 at 09:03 AM
meu site... queria que avaliassem e dessem opinioes!
Posted by: kate | October 08, 2007 at 07:39 AM
Hello All! Very nice JOB!!!
RESPECT
Posted by: vasya_syf | May 27, 2008 at 01:22 PM
Marle looked at marle looked confused as a short compact woman, slid
Posted by: axyxfujepc | January 11, 2009 at 01:13 AM
really good post.. thanks
Posted by: Kamagra Discount | March 18, 2009 at 11:32 PM
The online pharmacy no prescription phrase works on two distinct planes; the internet and non prescription medication. But, we are fusing the phrase so that it means something and we can use the constituent parts of the phrase to create an idea. The concept of “online pharmacy no prescription” is designed for the purpose of providing medication over the internet (online) for all those people all over the world who are in dire need of suitable medication at reasonable prices, which is exactly the reason behind generic meds. Now, this is one of the hardest concepts to explain because it has so many benefits that people cannot believe it is real, albeit millions of people use the internet for their medications needs and their respective refills with substantial savings. Why is it hard to explain though if it has so many benefits? Well, it is because we are speaking of the internet and people a wary about using the internet because some do not understand its principles in relation to ordering through online pharmacy no prescription
Posted by: online pharmacy no prescription | May 07, 2009 at 03:39 PM
Have heard that Pomegranate juice has allot of other health benefits, with erectile dysfunction for example :)
Posted by: Pomegranate | June 04, 2009 at 03:50 PM
people cannot believe it is real
Posted by: Tamiflu | June 09, 2009 at 11:57 PM
http://www.trustpharma.com is the cheapest online pharmacy for generic viagra,kamagra,penegra etc.I am using this one
for so many days and its really great to have with it.
Posted by: generic viagra online | June 30, 2009 at 05:57 AM