The Wonders of Pomegranates

How to start....and warning that this is one of those convoluted posts I sometimes write.

I know that pomegranates are good for us...antioxidant superpower...cardio vascular booster...and the color!...deep dark purpley fuchsia...but I don't like fruits with little pits. Seriously...I buy seedless grapes and watermelons! I don't even eat raspberry jam.

When I was a kid, we would always have pomegranates for the Jewish New Year...that's when we have a "new" fruit on the table. And, frankly, it was the only time of year I remember even seeing them in a grocery store. And although I liked the tart taste, I never knew what to do with the pits. Do you swallow them? Do you hide them in a napkin? What if there are only cloth napkins around?

And the myth....my girls swear I made them eat them naked so the juice wouldn't stain their clothes. Don't believe them, even for a second!

Back to the present....I'm so happy that I can now find pomegranate juice - and no pits to worry about! Especially since they're so good for us.

POM...I even love their site (POM Wonderful) makes some great products and recipes so check them out. I've used their juice in many a dish...pour a little in with citrus marinade for chicken and add to vinaigrettes...delicious. In fact, they have some great recipes to experiment with.

I like my juice right out of the fridge over some ice. And now they have Pomegranate Tea, with a sprig of mint ... a very tasty afternoon pick-me-up... especially when the sun is shining like it's summer, but you still have to wear gloves (4 degrees C/39F).

Yesterday I wrote about my new favorite cookbook - it's awesome! Chocolate for Breakfast . No...I didn't find any pomegranate recipes, but it did make me think about breakfast. I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day...at least I know that IN THEORY. I know that we're wired to either use or store energy and that if we don't start the day with a healthy dose of goodness, our brain thinks we're starving and then stores our energy, turning what we eat into that lovely fat ring around our waists, just in case we suffer from a drought or something...

BUT.... practically speaking, I'm a brunch person myself. Even though I wake early and am usually at my desk by 7-7:30 in the morning with coffee at my side, my mouth doesn't usually work well until later. All those glorious recipes in the book, made me more aware that, in fact, it doesn't have to take long to whip up some luscious dish, even at the crack of dawn. I'm working at it, but it still seems hard to get my mouth to work at chewing things that early in the morning.

And back to POM...you do know that eventually I get to the point of a story.... This morning I started off my day with a hearty smoothie from POM and threw in some frozen blueberries instead of the ice cubes. Delicious and no chewing required!

And for dinner tonight, I'll be doing a take on POM's Glazed Roast Chicken, using the boneless breasts that are sitting in the fridge.

What do you eat for breakfast?

The Breakfast Sandwich

I guess breakfast is on my brain, but the article that stood out for me in this month's Esquire Magazine is about the Griddled Egg & Bacon Sandwich. And when I went to their site, I found this article on the 50 Best Breakfasts in America. Naturally I got side tracked for a moment and had to share....flip through the slide show with commentary, it's fun, but I digress.

The article (and slide show) of what chefs make for breakfast is great too. And that's where I found the sandwich. Truth is, I prefer something like Evan Funke's Green Eggs & Ham. Healthier, and just way more fun for me.

But back to "fast food" breakfast... a recent issue of Men's Health had an article about best/worst breakfast sandwiches and MacDonald's Egg McMuffin won best fast food choice hands down. Of course, I need to have mine with the artery clogging sausage or why bother, which tips it into the "worst" basket. Sigh!!!

Anyway, this morning rather than send my Honey out for a Tim Horton's Breakfast Sandwich - apparently they're awesome (at least according to my Honey and my daughter Sharron, I've never tried one), but I digress yet again. Obviously not enough coffee.

I decided to come up with my own breakfast sandwich:

Ingredients:
Multigrain bread
Thin layer of Roasted Red Pepper Pesto
1 Slice of havarti (lite) cheese per sandwich
2 slices back bacon (also known as Canadian bacon, eh) per sandwich
2 eggs, whisked and seasoned with salt, pepper and some freshly chopped cilantro (per sandwich)

Directions:
1. Fry the very lean back bacon until crisp and set aside. (healthy alternative to regular bacon)

2. Fry up the eggs, pancake style, so they don't crumble and fall out of the sandwich. Should be dry so the sandwich is not soupy.

3. Lightly butter (or use a little olive oil in the pan - healthier version) the outside of the bread, spread the other side of the bread with pesto, layer the cheese, bacon and egg and cover with the last slice of bread.

4. Use a griddler, griddle pan or (like I did for less clean up) the same pan used for the eggs - just clean it out with a paper towel first.

Definitely a healthier version to a sausage McMuffin, but...who am I kidding, my mouth still waters at the thought of all that greasy, salty goodness.