By: Maria McConville, MS, RDN*
It’s that time of the year again, when summer’s bounty of strawberries and blueberries is long gone, and even those fruits and vegetables boasting fall’s warm hues are a near-distant memory. Now, winter’s most vibrant fruit takes center stage: Enter the cranberry.
Cranberries, which are mostly water, carbohydrates, and fiber, pack a powerful nutritional punch. They contain vitamins C, E, and K, and the minerals copper and manganese. These nutrients are especially important during the winter months when your immune system can be challenged. In addition to these vitamins and minerals, the cranberry’s most illustrious compounds are flavonoid polyphenols, which have been linked to preventing urinary tract infections.
Several years ago, while my family was stationed in New England, I joined a bicycling group that rode to a cranberry bog. It was fascinating to see how cranberries are grown and harvested. About 90% of cranberries are wet-harvested. The bogs where they grow are flooded with water the night before the harvesting. The next day, reels—nicknamed “egg-beaters”—churn the water and loosen the cranberries from the vine so they float to the surface. From there, the berries are corralled together, loaded into trucks, and shipped off to be used in various products from canned cranberry jelly to dried cranberry snacks and cranberry juice.
The other 10% of cranberries are dry-harvested. Cranberry growers use a mechanical picker that looks like a large lawnmower. Its metal teeth comb the berries off the vine and deposit them in a burlap sack at the back of the machine. These are the whole berries that show up in bags on our grocery store shelves in late fall and early winter.
Although some people find cranberries to be too tart, many Americans enjoy cranberries as part of their Thanksgiving and December celebration meals. As soon as the turkey and trimmings are polished off, so goes the cranberry sauce. But wait! Before all those bags of cranberries disappear from your grocery store produce aisles, grab a few bags and get creative.
I buy several bags of cranberries, rinse and air dry them, then freeze the cranberries in various sized freezer bags or containers. That way, I can grab the right amount of berries for whatever I’m making. In addition to freezing cranberries, I keep a pack or 2 in the refrigerator.
Making homemade fresh cranberry sauce is simple, and you can use it in so many ways!
Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy cranberries and cranberry sauce:
For breakfast:
- Stir leftover or freshly made cranberry sauce into some plain Greek yogurt. Add nuts, granola, or other fruit as desired.
- Blend fresh or defrosted chopped cranberries or cranberry sauce into a steaming bowl of oatmeal.
- Top whole-grain waffles or pancakes with fresh cranberries, pure maple syrup, and a dollop of whipped cream.
At lunch:
- Spread cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich.
- Grill sourdough bread, Brie cheese, and cranberry sauce; add a drop or 2 of grainy mustard.
- Smear a bagel with cream cheese and cranberry sauce.
For dinner:
- Roast fresh cranberries with butternut squash, pecans, and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve as a side dish with chicken, turkey, or Cornish hen.
- Stuff a pork roast with fresh cranberries and apples.
- Serve meatballs with a mix of cranberry and chili sauces, honey, garlic, and a pinch of red pepper.
Put cranberries on the top of your grocery list before they go into hibernation until next year. Make cranberries and cranberry sauce part of your performance-fueling and immunity-boosting eating plans. Learn more ways to boost your immunity here.
.png)
