Pomegranate Ginger Vinaigrette
A tasty, warming dressing, this simple Pomegranate Ginger Vinaigrette recipe will add a little zip to your next salad.
The pomegranate seeds (known as arils) are juicy, tart little packages of goodness I recommend you work into your diet any way you can. Each seed is full of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fibre. One pomegranate can provide you with almost half your daily dietary requirement for vitamin C. It is anti-inflammatory and can lower blood pressure. There is also potential for it in the prevention of cancer and heart disease, so making this low-calorie fruit a regular part of your diet has a wide range of benefits.
The seeds are intended to be eaten whole, but in this recipe if you would prefer to use the juice only, strain the pomegranate juice before combining it with the rest of the ingredients.
Pomegranates begin to ripen around the end of October into the first couple of weeks of November, so if you are making this using fresh ingredients (recommended) now is the perfect time. However, you can purchase concentrated pomegranate juice in most supermarkets.
One large pomegranate will yield about 1/2 cup juice, so if you want to make a larger batch of this dressing doubling up should be easy.
To cleanly separate the seeds from the husk, start by cutting out the bud end (the open crown-like end). Insert a small knife in at about a 45 degree angle approximately 1/2" away from the bud and cut all the way around. Discard the bud.
Next, if you look at the body of the pomegranate you will notice that it isn't perfectly round. It subtly undulates with ridges and dips. With your knife, score the husk down each of the ridges, careful not to cut too deep. You should be able to make about 4 to 6 cuts.
You should now be able to break the pomegranate apart in your hands into segments. Do this over a bowl of cold water as some of those juicy little seeds will try to escape and could burst. One segment at a time, gently coax the seeds from the husk with your fingers and drop them into the bowl of water. Try to remove the husk entirely. In the bowl, the seeds should sink while any husk you missed, floats. Skim out and discard the husk and strain out the water leaving a bowl of seeds.
If you want to preserve pomegranate seeds at the peak of ripeness, you can freeze the seeds for use any time of year. Simply dry off the seeds and spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for 2 or 3 hours before storing them in an airtight container in the freezer. They should last up to 6 months.
Ingredients
(Makes 6 servings | Serving size = 2 tablespoon)
1 large pomegranate, seeded
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and pureed
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey (or bee-free Honee)
Directions
Deseed the pomegranate and place the seeds into a blender.
If you plan on straining out the seeds before using this dressing, blend the seeds on high on their own first to release the juice. Strain over a bowl, discard the seeds, and return the juice to the blender.
If you are not straining the seeds, place all the ingredients into the blender and blend at high speed for one minute.
Drizzle over salads and enjoy.
Store remaining dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
total calories = 63 | total fat = 0.55g | saturated fat = 0.11g | cholesterol = 0mg | sodium = 1.5mg | carbohydrates = 15.07g | dietary fibre = 1.89g | sugars = 11.97g | protein = 0.8g
