Get Your Pom Red

So festive that faux-fruit versions have made it into Pottery Barn holiday garlands, it seems like the right time of year to enjoy all the pomegranate has to offer-its maroon globe even looks like a tree ornament. Half the fun is tearing into the fruit to get to the good stuff: a wealth of seeds, like little ruby versions of corn kernels, that wait to stain and burst juice some believe is rich with antioxidants. While these teensy seeds are weighted with much cultural, biblical, and mythical baggage, and etymologically the fruit shares its roots with “grenade” (and, if handled poorly, it will leave you looking like a bomb went off, flecked in crimson), they simply taste good, a great way to spark up a green salad or put some crunch on your cheese spread. They also do wonders at the bottom of a champagne flute, perhaps with a dash of pomegranate juice (buy it bottled; it’s much easier than juicing the arils yourself) to add that wonderful red that Santa made famous.