How You Should Seed A Pomegranate, Padma Lakshmi Style
Fall foods come in a variety of hues, but the predominant players — squash and pumpkins — possess a similar shade. If you're looking to break up the spectrum of brown, orange, and yellow dishes that dominate the Thanksgiving table, pomegranates make a vibrant addition to any salad or side dish, according to The Washington Post, which said the colorful ball of seeds would make a great addition to your holiday meal.
These festive little jewels, once removed from their shell, pack a major punch of juicy pizzazz. They're crisp and have a unique fruity flavor. Healthline reported that you should be eating more pomegranates because they're packed with nutrition. Not only are they full of antioxidants, but they're also known to decrease inflammation which has been linked to a number of illnesses. They're antimicrobial, they may help stave off cancer, and they promote heart health.
Pomegranates are notoriously hard to peel, per The Manual. Without proper technique, you'll make a mess or stain your clothing and countertops. It's a messy process, but Padma Lakshmi has de-seeding this fruit down to a science.
Padma Lakshmi cleans up the de-seeding process
To include pomegranates in your cooking, you'll have to reckon with the tough exterior shell and splattering red juices. If that battle intimidates you, Padma Lakshmi is here to simplify the process. The Food Network celeb shared her secret in a July 11 Instagram post.
Lakshmi begins by cutting a rectangle across the top of the fruit, removing the stem and top portion of the shell and exposing white membranes running throughout the seeds. Then she cuts through the outer shell along the membranes to open full segments of the pomegranate. No poncho or counter-wiping necessary.
There are other ways to cut a pomegranate. Some people prefer to submerge the fruit in a bowl of water to reduce the mess. This method allows you to attack the interior of the pomegranate with (clean) hands to manually separate the arils from the fleshy white bits.
With Lakshmi's strategy, you shouldn't have any juice flowing from the fruit at all, provided you cut in the correct spot and didn't slice into the seeds, per Simply Recipes. If you're still concerned about keeping your workspace clean, you can combine these methods. Cut the slices in the fruit as Lakshmi instructed, then plunge the segments into water to remove the seeds just to be safe.