Sunday, November 30, 2008

Eat Cherries - You Don't Need an Excuse

By KC Kudra

Many of us have great memories of eating perfectly ripe cherries when we were kids, but did you know that cherries could be a great adult treat too. Cherries are becoming known as a great source of antioxidants. Cherries are excellent when it comes to fighting diseases and with a high level of beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron, and foliate, it is easy to see why this fruit is becoming so popular with so many people.

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.

Dried cherries are less sweet than maple syrup or honey and are very healthy. Dried cherries are also a wonderful addition to trail mix, their color, and vitamin content being a welcome addition to the mix.

You will also find that cherries can also bring a lot of savor and sweetness to a beef dish, and the juice from the cherries can do a lot to keep the beef from drying out. You will find that the juice from one can of sweet dark cherries can be put into a saucepan with horseradish, tomato paste, shallots and some port and then brought to a boil over medium heat for about 12 to 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.

When you are interested in adding cherries where you might not expect it, you can start with a cherry chili. Take 3/4ths a cup of fresh, chopped cherries, either tart or sweet, depending on your taste and add them when you add the beans. You will find that the cherries will add in texture as well as taste. This is a great way to introduce chili to kids or even to friends who have a taste for the new and interesting.

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!

An icing for your jell-o cake can be made by mixing together your cherry jell-o (with fresh cherries, of course) and whipped cream. If you can keep from eating it before it makes it to the cake, then this is a great final touch to your jell-o cake. You can also add dark cherries to a bowl of vanilla ice cream or yogurt for a delicious dessert.

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. - 16650

About the Author: