Vegan And Gluten-Free Low-Sugar Cranberry Sauce With Pomegranate And Pear A Great Dish For The Holidays!

We added fresh pears and pomegranate arils to
our popular low-sugar cranberry sauce.

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Get Them While You Can
I can't get enough of fresh cranberries and pomegranates. Just knowing they will soon be gone makes me appreciate them even more. 

Here's a variation of our popular low-sugar cranberry sauce recipe with the addition of pears and cranberries. It was a big hit at Thanksgiving and it could be a great addition to your Christmas menu too! 

Serve it with roasted root vegetables, stuffed acorn squash, rice casserole, on top of a baked sweet potato, with vegan stuffing, or just eat it with a spoon. It keeps well so you can make it early in the day or even the night before.

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Low-Sugar Cranberry Sauce with Pomegranate and Pear
Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 10 to 12 servings]

1 large pomegranate
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
Juice from one large organic orange
Water
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
12 ounce bag fresh cranberries, stems removed
1 pear, peeled and diced
8 drops stevia, or to taste (optional)

To remove the arils, see my post on how to neatly clean a pomegranate and set aside the pomegranate arils.

After grating what you need from the orange peel, cut the orange in half. Squeeze the juice from both of the orange halves into a 1-cup measuring cup. Fill the rest of the measuring cup up with water. Place in a small saucepan with the orange peel and sugar.
Heat on medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.

Add the cranberries and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop and the sauce thickens, 8 to 10 minutes. 

Add the pear and cook for another minute or two, stirring frequently.

Remove from the heat and add a few drops of stevia at a time until the sauce reaches the desired sweetness. Be careful because too much stevia will actually make it bitter.

Stir in the pomegranate arils. Place in a serving bowl, cool to room temperature and serve. 

Store in the refrigerator.

Per serving (10) 81 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 9 mg omega-3 and 42 g omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 2 mg sodium.

Per serving (12) 67 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 7 mg omega-3 and 35 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 2 mg sodium.

Vegan Roasted Shaved Brussels Sprouts And Shallots With Pomegranate Seeds How To Neatly Clean A Pomegranate Welcome To The 2013 Virtual Vegan Potluck!

Brussels Sprouts - A Thanksgiving Favorite!
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2013 Virtual Vegan Potluck
Today's recipe will be part of the 2013 Virtual Vegan Potluck. At the bottom of the page, below my recipe, you will be able to link to over 100 vegan recipes posted by my fellow bloggers including appetizers, beverages, breads, salads, sides, soups, main courses, and desserts. So enjoy!

Thanksgiving Favorites
Brussels sprouts and pomegranates are both Thanksgiving favorites so you can only imagine the joy on your guests faces when they are presented together in this delicious dish!

There's a beautiful contrast between the smokey, roasted flavors of the Brussels sprouts and shallots and the bursting fresh flavors of the raw pomegranate seeds, which are actually called pomegranate arils.

Arils are 72 calories per half cup.
They are rich in vitamin C, K, and folate and
contain polyphenols that support heart health
and protect against cancer.

And in case you shy away from this beautiful, polyphenol-packed fruit because it appears to be impossible to clean, I will repost a very easy way to clean pomegranates - one that does not require a hazmat suit! 

How to Neatly Clean a Pomegranate

Step 1 - cut off the top.

Step 2 - Score the rind in four quadrants.

Step 3 - Break the fruit apart, separating the pith from the arils, while submerged  in a bowl of water.

Step 4 - The arils will sink to the bottom.
Skim off the pith and rind.

Step 5 - Drain the arils and set aside.

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Roasted Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Shallots with Pomegranate
Vegan, Gluten Free
Requires large shallow roasting pan
[makes 6 servings]

1 pound Brussels sprouts
6 ounces shallots, peeled, halved, and sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
1/2 cup pomegranate arils (see above on how to clean)
1/4 of a fresh lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly grease the roasting pan with a little olive oil.

Prepare the Brussels sprouts. Cut 1/4 inch off the bottoms and rinse.
Cut vertically in 1/4 inch slices. Place on the roasting pan with the shallots.

Drizzle oil over the Brussels sprouts and shallots and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix until they are well coated. Spread out the vegetables in a single layer.

Bake until slightly golden brown, about 20 minutes, mixing the Brussels sprouts about half way through with a spatula.

Remove from the oven and place in a serving bowl. Top with pomegranate arils, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and additional freshly ground black pepper if desired. Toss and serve.

Per serving: 101 calories, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 108 mg omega-3 and 492 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g protein, 13.5 g carbohydrates, and 3.5 g dietary fiber.

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Pomegranate, Pear And Orange Salad - Raw Vegan And Gluten Free

An autumn fruit salad of pomegranate seeds, pear and orange.

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A Delightful Combination
Sometimes I just toss a few things I have in the house together and something wonderful happens. This is one of those times. I picked up a big pomegranate at the market (because how can I possibly resist this beautiful fruit) not knowing what I was going to do with it. I already had an entire bag of ripening pears at home together with a couple of fresh oranges. I diced a pear and an orange up very fine so their size didn't overshadow the little pomegranate seeds and just tossed them together with a little squirt of orange juice and POW - what a fresh, crunchy, delicious combination this made! And it only took a few minutes and 3 ingredients. 

Just in Time for Thanksgiving
This simple salad makes a great side dish for Thanksgiving or for a holiday brunch. It goes together quickly which is a "must" during the holidays. You can make the orange and pomegranate seeds ahead of time but don't add the pear until the last minute as it doesn't keep well.

Pomegranates are rich in vitamin C, K and folate and very high in fiber.

Raw Cleanse
This high fiber, nutrient and phytochemical-rich salad is perfect for a raw food cleanse. It's advisable to do a few "One Day Raw Food Cleanses" before you enter into the holiday season. Just a single, 100 calorie serving of this salad provides about 1/3rd of your daily requirement of vitamin C (just in time for flu season) and nearly 1/4th of your fiber needs.

Pomegranate, Pear and Orange Salad
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 4 servings]

1 pomegranate
1 large orange
1 large pear

To prepare the pomegranate, cut off the top, score the rind in 4 quadrants and break the pomegranate apart over a bowl filled with water. Submerge the broken fruit and separate the seeds from the pith with your fingers. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the pith and rind will float to the top. Skim off the pith and rind and drain the seeds. See my post on How to Clean a Pomegranate. Place the seeds in a bowl.

1 large pomegranate yields about 1 1/2 cups of seeds 

To prepare the orange, cut off the top about 1/2 inch down so there's enough fresh pulp remaining in the top to squeeze into the salad.  Squeeze the juice from the top into the bowl of pomegranate seeds (you only need a teaspoon or two). Peel the rest of the orange and dice into small pieces. Place the orange pieces into the bowl.

Cut the pear into quarters, remove the seeds and dice into small pieces. Toss immediately with the orange and pomegranate seeds.

Serve immediately as a fruit salad or scoop onto a bed of greens.

Per serving: 107 calories, 1 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 2 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 5.4 g dietary fiber and 27 mg sodium.