Now that the Christmas holidays are approaching, and with them the excesses that some dread, including fruit in our meals can be a great idea. That's why we've decided to share some pomegranate recipes with you that we're sure you'll love.

But first, we want to explain its properties and health benefits:

The pomegranate (Punica Granatum) is native to Eastern countries, and it was the Arabs, who were great admirers of it, that introduced it to Spain. They even gave their name to a city: Granada, in Andalusia.

It is a fruit rich in vitamins C, E, and B6, although it also contains amounts of vitamin B1 and B2. These B-group vitamins benefit dry skin, as they hydrate it and help the skin look young and healthy. Additionally, it contains minerals such as potassium, copper, and iron.

It also contains non-nutritive components, but equally beneficial to health, such as:

  • Tannins: abundant in the peel and in the membranes separating the seeds, which promote water absorption and have an astringent and anti-inflammatory effect on the digestive tract.
  • Citric acid: which gives it its pleasant taste and helps regenerate the intestinal bacterial flora.
  • Anthocyanins: which act as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory in the digestive tract and as a powerful antioxidant in cells, which can help slow down aging processes and cancerous degeneration.
  • Pelletierine: which is an alkaloid that promotes the expulsion of intestinal parasites.

In summary, pomegranate consumption has astringent, anti-inflammatory, vermifuge, remineralizing, alkalizing and purifying properties, and is especially indicated for some cases such as intestinal disorders, intestinal parasites, heartburn, anemia, arteriosclerosis, hypertension or metabolic disorders.

Pomegranate Wonderful | Summer Fruit

Before we start with Summer Fruit, here are some tips for shelling it correctly:

  1. The first thing we need to do is take a knife and make incisions in the top of the pomegranate to remove it.
  2. Next, we look for the veins that separate the grains and make vertical incisions to divide the fruit, without going all the way through; we don't want it to break completely.
  3. Once we've made the cuts, all we have to do is pull it outwards and the pomegranate will open like a flower. We can remove the seeds by hand or turn it upside down and tap it gently on a plate to make them fall out. When the pomegranate is open, it should look something like this:

 

Here's one of our videos that shows the process more clearly:

 

Let's stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point. The first recipe we suggest is…

AVOCADO, ORANGE AND POMEGRANATE SALAD:

This recipe is very easy to prepare and a great choice as a starter, full of flavor and very healthy.

   Ingredients (for 4 people):

  • 1 Escarole
  • 1 orange
  • 1 pomegranate
  • 1 tablespoon of mustard
  • Salt
  • 1 avocado
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • 12 shelled walnuts
  • A little extra virgin olive oil.

   Elaboration:

  1. Wash the escarole, dry it, chop it, and set it aside in a bowl. Cut the pomegranate as we showed you and remove all the seeds. Set them aside.
  2. Peel the orange, removing the white pith as well. Separate the segments and set them aside.
  3. Now we'll make the vinaigrette: whisk the mustard in a bowl with the orange juice and 3-4 tablespoons of oil.
  4. We cut the avocado in half, remove the pulp and cut it into half-moons.
  5. Finally, we seasoned the escarole, dressed it with the vinaigrette we had prepared, and added the rest of the ingredients: the pomegranate, the walnuts, the avocado, and the orange segments.

It looks spectacular, doesn’t it? A simple and colorful dish to put on the table. This recipe is by Karlos Arguiñano, and you can see it in full at this link: https://www.hogarmania.com/cocina/recetas/ensaladas-verduras/ensalada-aguacate-naranja-granada-refrescante.html

 

The second recipe in our recommendation is a main course…

BAKED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH PUMPKIN AND POMEGRANATE

     Ingredients (for 4 people):

  • 8 chicken thighs
  • 1 pumpkin
  • 1 pomegranate
  • 2 onions
  • 2 tablespoons of cumin
  • 1 tablespoon of oregano
  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper.

     Elaboration:

  1. Heat the oven to 220ºC
  2. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.
  3. Peel and halve the onions. Wash and cut the pumpkin into chunks.
  4. Place the chicken thighs, pumpkin, and onions in a large ovenproof dish and pour over the mixture we made earlier.
  5. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes, until the chicken thighs are tender and golden brown. Meanwhile, open a pomegranate and remove the seeds.
  6. Once you take it out of the oven, scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and enjoy!

 

A delicious and very complete recipe described on the Cocina Rico website, which you can find in detail at the following link: Simple Baked Chicken Thighs with Pumpkin and Pomegranate Recipe | Cocina Rico

 

And last but not least, a dessert recipe that is sure to please both adults and children…

PANNA COTTA WITH POMEGRANATE JELLY

Panna cotta is a typical Italian dessert and is very easy to prepare, but it needs a considerable amount of time in the refrigerator to turn out perfectly.

     Ingredients:

     For the panna cotta:

  • ½ liter of whipping cream
  • 150g of white sugar
  • 3 hours of gelatin
  • 1 vanilla pod

    For the pomegranate jelly:

  • 2 pome granates
  • 50g of white sugar
  • 1 sheet of jelly

    Cooking panna cotta:

  1. We start by preparing the panna cotta and the first thing we must do is put the gelatin sheets to hydrate.
  2. We cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape the inside with a knife to remove the seeds (if we don't have a pod we can use vanilla essence, although it's not the same).
  3. We put the milk in a saucepan along with the vanilla seeds and pod, add the sugar and leave it on the heat for 10 minutes.
  4. After this time, add the gelatin and mix until well combined. Strain the mixture and pour it into glasses or the mold you will be using to serve the panna cotta.
  5. We let it cool to room temperature and put it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.

   Preparation of pomegranate jelly:

  1. We peel the pomegranate and remove the seeds, leaving some aside to decorate at the end.
  2. We grind the grains until we get a fine puree and strain it so that no remains are left.
  3. We hydrate the gelatin in water.
  4. Heat the pomegranate juice in a saucepan with the sugar until it boils and add the drained gelatin, stirring well until it is completely incorporated.
  5. We strain the mixture again in case there are any lumps left that we don't want to add to our dessert.

   Final elaboration:

  1. We take the panna cotta out of the refrigerator and pour some of the pomegranate jelly mixture we prepared over it.
  2. We put it back in the fridge for about 3-4 hours.
  3. When we are ready to serve it, we decorate with the pomegranate seeds that we had set aside and optionally we can add some mint leaves.

The whole family is sure to love it! Its white color contrasted with the red of the pomegranate makes it so beautiful you'll want to eat it with your eyes.

This easy and delicious dessert can be found in more detail at the following link: ‘Panna Cotta’ with Pomegranate Jelly (hola.com)

Did you like these recipes?

If you loved them as much as we did, let us know in the comments or by sharing this link on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Summer Fruit wishes you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2026.

Because your trust helps us grow.

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

  • Foods that heal – Dr. Jorge d. Pamplona Roger – Safeliz Publishing House, s.l. – 1995

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