Giving Thanks for Cranberries

It’s nearly Thanksgiving, so it’s only fitting that our spotlight ingredient this week be cranberries, right? It was one of those Thanksgiving dishes that, as a kid, was always a hard “no thank you”, but has since evolved into the perfect dish to balance the table, giving sour/fruitiness to an otherwise heavy feast. I don’t think we appreciate the humble cranberry enough, so today we give thanks…to cranberries!

Unlike marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes (which hadn’t yet been introduced to America), cranberries were very likely actually served at the very first Thanksgiving in 1621. They’re one of a few commercial fruits native to North America, along with blueberries and Concord grapes, and were a staple for Native Americans, who would mash them up with game meat and fats to create little energy bites (a bit different from the energy bites of today, huh?)

Varieties of cranberries

95% of all cranberries are processed into various cranberry products. Here are a few of the main ones:

• Dried: These tasty little guys have the same amount of fiber as fresh berries, but are a lot lower in vitamins. Commercial brands will usually coat them in a bit of vegetable oil to prevent sticking, as well as sugar, so get them from a health food store if you can. They have a long shelf life, making them great for taking along as a high energy snack.
• Sauce: This is usually just sugar, cranberries, and water with optional additions (like orange zest or spices), though sometimes you’ll find it in jam/jelly form.
• Fresh: And of course, you can find fresh berries in your grocery in the fall, which is when they’re harvested.

How to select and store fresh cranberries

• Fresh cranberries should be really plump and will bounce if dropped. Any wrinkly berries should be removed. They’ll quickly spoil the whole batch!
• Store fresh berries in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 months, or wash, dry, and freeze them.

Cranberries for health

• Research doesn’t seem to support the age-old use of cranberries for treating UTIs, but they may help prevent them do to a high amount of antioxidants, like vitamin C. All the more reason to make them a part of your everyday diet!
• Cranberries are also a vasodilator, which means they have a knack for expanding your blood vessels which is great for controlling and reducing blood pressure.

Cranberry nutrition information

per 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries (110 g)

• Calories: 51
• Carbohydrates: 13 g
• Fiber: 5 g, 20% of Daily Value (DV)
• Protein: 0 g
• Fat: 0 g
• 24% DV of Vitamin C: A water-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant to fight against potentially damaging free radicals (molecules with unshared electrons that float around wreaking havoc) and an important cofactor in collagen synthesis.
• 7% DV of Vitamin E (a.k.a Tocopherols and Tocotrienols): A fat-soluble antioxidant that fights against potentially damaging free radicals from reacting with oxygen when fat is metabolized.

References

• http://nutritiondata.self.com/
• http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/vitamins/