How to Deseed a Pomegranate and a Salad of Apples, Pomegranate, Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts
January 16, 2012 
Pomegranates have become so popular - they're delicious and healthy. But they can be a pain to deseed, squirting juice everywhere and making a mess. I'll show you how to easily clean a pomegranate and get all those seeds out.
I'm going to be posting a lot of pasta dishes this winter, so I thought I would give you a nice refreshing, light salad first! The key to making a great salad is two things: 1) make your own dressing and 2) only lightly dress the greens. Salad dressing shouldn't weigh down a salad - it should just lightly coat it. The greens and the fruit or vegetables should be the star. The salad should be refreshing, not a soggy mess.
Experiment with different flavored oils and vinegars - there has never been a better time to do this. There are specialty shops all over now which sell them, but even your average grocery store is carrying some. We all know red wine vinegar and balsamic when it comes to making salads, but other vinegars are so outstanding - two of my favorites now are a peach vinegar and a red apple vinegar. Wow. They really make a salad zing. Try experimenting with different oils, too. I like a garlic flavored oil and a lemon flavored oil for salads.
To deseed the pomegranate, the secret is to do it underwater. Place the pomegranate in a bowl of water and when you scrape out the seeds under the water, the juice can't splatter all over. The inedible parts of the fruit float to the top and the seeds sink to the bottom. So easy.
Salad of Apples, Pomegranate, Gorngonzola and Pine Nuts
for a printable recipe click here
adjust the amounts according to how you like your salad:
Ingredients:
1 fresh pomegranate
1 granny smith apple
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 ounces gorgonzola cheese
salad greens
2 tablespoons red apple vinegar (or any other flavored vinegar you like)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I like to use garlic flavored oil sometimes)
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Fill a medium bowl with water. Slice the top off the pomegranate with a sharp knife. Score four sides of the pomegranate and break it open with your thumbs into sections. Place the sections into the water and, under the water, pick or scrape out the seed with your fingers. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the inedible parts will float to the top of the water. When you are done with all of the sections, remove the parts that are floating and place the seeds in a small strainer and rinse, picking out any other small white inedible parts.
the seeds sink to the bottom and the inedible parts float to the top
Slice the granny smith apple into matchsticks.
Place the pine nuts in a little fry pan and toast them over medium heat for just a few minutes, until they turn slightly golden. Alternatively, you can place them on a foil lined baking pan and toast them in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 6-7 minutes, until they are slightly golden.
Crumble the gorgonzola cheese into small pieces.
Place your salad greens in a large bowl and toss with the seeds, pine nuts, cheese and apples, reserving a few of all the add-ins. Whisk the vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Adjust the seasoning to your liking. Drizzle a little of the dressing onto the greens and toss gently. Drizzle just enough dressing onto the salad to lightly coat the leaves - not too much. Add additional salt and pepper if you like and scatter the reserved toppings over the salad.
Reader Comments (19)
I am completely obsessed with anything GORGONZOLA,this looks like such an amazing fresh tasting salad I am making this ASAP!!thanks for sharing.
I've been eating pomegranates all my life, but never knew this trick. Thanks so much for the post.
I'll make this salad very soon.
My father loved pomegranates but I was always intimidated by them. Thanks for the tip and the salad looks fabulous! I am going to make it for my book club friends as my husband hates fruit in his salad.
I was just eating a pomegranate yesterday and made a hugh mess all over the table. By the way, the seeds inside the kernels, are they edible, I spit them out after sucking out the juice. Is there any nutritious value in the seeds? Thanks for sharing the unusual and tasty salad tip, Gorganzola is the way to make my husband eat a salad, and in the pasta with mushrooms, he gets really happy, and I get really worried, as he doesn't like eating vegetables. Sometimes when he is about to get gout, I encouraged him to drink celery seed tea, 2 cups and he is good. The recovery is within a few hours. I am glad that I found this out from a blog and I am happy to share.
Happy New Year to you and family and thanks so much for all your wonderful and beautiful recipes, pictures and videos, they are such an inspiration.
Hello Again..
Each time I am able to browse through your marvellous Newsletter - 'The Italian Dish' and see your photos - Yes, me mouth starts to water and I say to myself, ' You make it look so easy and tempting
to taste/make'..
I too do love Pomegranates. But as you mentioned the juice just spatters everywhere even on my white shirts or sweaters - no matter. So I am definitely going to try your Method - sure looks so much easier and not near as messy.
And yes you're so right about making our own Salad Dressings.. I must try to find some Peach Vinegar as I haven't seen any here in Vancouver,BC - I may need to go to the Specialty shops where they
have special Gourmet items available.
I often use Rice Vinegar and Balsamic Vinegar - but am always looking for something a little different.
Cooking for one is often difficult - as one tries to come up with different tasty things to eat.
Thanks once again for sharing with us.. I have become fan to be sure.
Continued success in the year ahead.
Toodles for now.. Sandy
What a tasty looking salad. Great tip for getting out the pomegranate seeds. I do so agree about making your own salad dressing, bought ones just aren't as good. GG
This salad will be on my dinner table tonight! I was wondering what to do with my Pom (other than eat it in its natural state)...now I know!
In answer to your question Faye - Yes! Pom seeds are very edible, and healthy for you! Extracts of pomegranate seed contain more antioxidants than green tea or red wine...so go ahead, enjoy the whole fruit seed. They're actually quite fun to crunch up :)
I love mixing sweet and savory into salads. Sometimes I can even go without dressing when the blue cheese is a bit on the creamier side.
Wow this salad looks really great! I'll definetely try to do this!!!
Great pictures :)
As always gorgeous, delicious! And thank you so much for the pomegranate tutorial, I have steered clear of them because it's such a pain getting the seeds out! No longer ; )
You are so right about making your own dressing. I can't imagine any bottled dressing that tastes as good as homemade. This salad combination you put together is something I wish I had in front of me right now. I could eat it every day.
Gorgonzola + fruit + nuts makes me very happy. This is a beautiful, welcoming salad - one I will create when we get above 0 degrees F!
Good Morning..
I was wondering what other Cheese other than Gorgonzola could I use? Forgive me but I don't particularly like the taste of it.
I was thinking a really good Feta Cheese that is tasty and will crumble as does the Gorgonzola.
Since it is rather cold & snowy here in Vancouver,BC - going to make another fresh Pot of Vegetable Soup - will have it with a tiny green salad and baguette slices..
Thanks again for sharing.. Love reading the comments from everyone.
From The Italian Dish:
Sandy: You can use whatever cheese you like! Feta would be just fine. So would goat cheese. Enjoy.
Great recipe, Elaine! I'm a long time fan of Pomegranate, which is what attracted me in the first place. All the flavors blend well together. First time I've ever had Gorgonzola, however, and I loved it! Surprising since Cheese is probably my favorite food. I made this salad twice over the weekend, and didn't want to share it, but I let my boys enjoy it anyway.
The pomegranate color looks so nice in the dish. Healthy & delicious! Thanks!
Can't wait to make your salad! Your food pics are beautiful by the way. I mentioned your individual cheesecakes in my blog. I linked back. Cheers!
Larisa
http://inspiredbeautyofcourse.blogspot.com
try this with your next pomegranate http://lifehacker.com/5895852/deseed-a-pomegranate-in-10-seconds-using-a-wooden-spoon
i never knew that. thanks for sharing. i can't wait until pomegranate season to try this out!