Eating Fruit During the Cold Winter Months

There's nothing like having some fresh berries or watermelon on a hot summer day. Unfortunately, during the winter months, all of those out-of-season fruits are expensive and lack the sweet flavor that they once had.

My favorite fruits to turn to during this time of year are pineapples and pomegranates. Pineapples are technically in season from March to July, but they are available all year round. They are an excellent source of vitamin C. Pomegranate season starts around October and goes until January. Pomegranates have LOTS of fiber and a variety of other nutrients! Trying to figure out how to get to the edible part is a little intimidating, but you'll get better with practice. I like to cut the pomegranate up into sections and then manually pick out the arils, which is the technical name for the seeds. This can get a little messy as the juice is known to splatter your clothes, counters and walls. If you prefer a less messy method, a quick google search for "deseeding pomegranate underwater" will provide you with plenty of step-by-step instructions and videos. You can eat the arils by themselves, mix with other fruit, stir in with yogurt or sprinkle on a salad.

There are many other options when it comes to fruit this time of year. Some other winter fruits include:

Clementines

Currants

Grapefruit

Kiwi

Mandarin oranges

Oranges

Passion fruit

Pears

Plums

Sharon fruit

Tangerines

Some other fruits available all year round:

Apples

Bananas

Lemons

Papayas

Additional options that I like to keep around during those winter months when fresh fruit is scarce are frozen and canned fruits. Frozen fruit is great because of its simplicity; no added sugar, no preservatives, just...well, frozen fruit! Canned fruit is also an option, but be aware that fruit packed in syrup may contain a lot of added sugar. For this reason, if going the canned route, I'd recommend fruit packed in juice. Don't forget about applesauce either! As always, pay attention to labels - in particular, look for the words "Natural", "No Sugar Added" or "Unsweetened" on your applesauce packaging. Pro tip: sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of your applesauce for extra flavor!