Healthy and Flavorful - Getting More Cherries in Your Diet

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Healthy and Flavorful - Getting More Cherries in Your Diet

Written by KC Kudra

Saturday, 29 November 2008 01:16

by KCKudra

We all have cherished memories of eating perfectly ripe cherries on a summer's day as children. There is no reason you cannot add to those memories, however - cherries are the ideal treat for people of all ages. Cherries are a good source of antioxidants and contain a lot of important vitamins and minerals - they contain vitamin C, iron, folate, potassium, magnesium, and beta-carotene. With all of these health benefits and such a great taste, it is no surprise that they are so popular.

When you are looking for ways to integrate cherries into your daily diet, you will find that this is easier than you could believe. Cherries are quite sweet fresh, but you will find that when they are dried and added to other things that they can be quite rich as well. For example, you will find that dried cherries are quite tasty when you put them into oatmeal.

Less sweet than syrup or sugar, dried cherries are a great way to dress up your oatmeal naturally. They are also a great addition to trail mix, where they add welcome color and flavor, not to mention vitamins and minerals.

You can also use cherries in savory dishes like roast beef! Try this recipe to bring out some of the flavor of your roast beef. The juice from the cherries helps to keep the meat moist and juicy and the cherries add a whole new dimension of flavor to the dish. Try making a sauce using the juice from one can of sweet dark cherries, horseradish, sauted shallots, tomato paste and a splash of port. You should simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes.

The sauce will thicken slightly as it cooks; once you remove the sauce from heat, strain the sauce, and then cover. You can sear the cherries and add them along with the sauce over roast beef. This dish can be served as is, or if you have a flair for showman (or show woman)-ship at the dinner table, the cherries can be flambed.

Another great, if unexpected place for cherries is in a cherry chili! Add cup of chopped cherries (these should be fresh, but can be sweet or sour cherries depending on your preference) to your chili along with the beans. The cherries will add some of their flavor to the chili and add an interesting textural element to the chili as well. This is a great way to dress up the same old chili and make it exciting.

In addition, of course there is jell-o. Do you even need a reason to add cherries to jell-o? After all, cherry jell-o is already incredibly popular. Add some chopped cherries to your jell-o to dress up this dessert standby. You can also alternate layers of jell-o with white cake to create a jell-o cake!

You can make an exciting layer for a jell-o cake or even a dessert in its own right by mixing cherry jell-o and fresh chopped cherries, then chill and fold in whipped cream. This can be whipped into a sort of icing for your jell-o cake if you can resist eating it right out of the mixing bowl! Another great dessert idea is to add some dark cherries to a bowl of vanilla ice cream or plain or vanilla yogurt delicious!

Cherries are a delicious and healthy treat any time at all - go ahead and indulge! You can add them to your diet in many different ways, do not be afraid to experiment a little and enjoy this favorite in new ways.

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