How to freeze pomegranate seeds (arils) to keep them longer and ready for baking, breakfast smoothies or salads.
Happy Monday friends! How was your weekend? Just a simple post today, because we’re actually still at the tail end of a super-long weekend around here … PD days at school plus Family Day Monday today. Add Valentine’s Day in the middle and it’s been a pretty jam-packed weekend. Hope yours has been either fun or restful too, as much as mid-February will allow!
And because it’s mid-February, we haven’t had local fresh fruit for a really long season, and so you try to buy a bit of variety and not pay crazy prices for things, but then also use up the fruit you’ve bought without it going bad. Hello brown bananas. So when I splurge on something like pomegranate for a change, I don’t want any of it to go to waste.
If you’ve never seeded a pomegranate, it’s not really as time-consuming as it looks. The trick is to take the whole thing apart under water so that the seeds sink and the white bits float. Here’s a good video to demonstrate. Also, for the purpose of education, did you know the pomegranate seeds are called arils?
Then I spread the seeds out on some paper towel to dry, and then spread them out on some parchment paper on a cookie sheet or tray so that they’re in a single layer. Set the tray in your freezer so it sits flat, and within a couple of hours the pomegranate seeds will be frozen through.
I store them in these tiny mason jars. I prefer to use glass over plastic if I can, and they’re just too cute, right? So what do you do with frozen pomegranate seeds? I’m glad you asked! How about…
Spiced Pomegranate Cocktail from Honestly Yum
Strawberry Pomegranate Green Smoothie from 3 Boys Unprocessed
Pomegranate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Two Peas and their Pod
…just as a few good examples, but maybe you already have a favourite way to use them? Would you let me know in the comments? This is what I usually do… top my breakfast granola or oatmeal with a few tablespoons of pomegranate seeds straight from the freezer for a burst of flavour and nutrition. And the pop of colour doesn’t hurt either, since apparently we eat with our eyes first. Also, read up on 7 Proven Health Benefits of Pomegranates.
So that’s it for today. Freeze your pomegranate seeds to keep them ready and available for a quick breakfast addition or any other more fancy recipe. Why don’t you splurge on a few too?
xo andrea
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