Poached Pears with Wild Blueberry Sauce

Name: Poached Pears with Wild Blueberry Sauce
Prep time: 20

5 out of 5 stars (based on 7 reviews)

20 min prep

4 servings

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6 ingredients

Chinese medicine says that pears are very cooling to the body, a good thing if you are going through chemo or radiation. And Western medicine likes the antioxidant properties of blueberries for healthy cell...

4 Bosc pears
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 inch strip lemon peel
¼ cup water
1 (15 ounce) bag of frozen blueberries, ⅓ cup reserved
1 tablespoon water

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Nutrition Facts

Calories

214 cals

Fat

1 g

Saturated Fat

0 g

Polyunsaturated Fat

0 g

Monounsaturated Fat

0 g

Carbohydrates

53 g

Sugar

36 g

Fiber

9 g

Protein

2 g

Sodium

5 mg

Directions

Peel the pears and cut them in half lengthways. Scoop out the cores with a teaspoon and remove the stem. Arrange the pears in a circle inside a shallow heavy-bottomed pan with a tight-fitting lid, cut sides down, thin ends towards the center.
Pour the maple syrup and water over the pears. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add the lemon zest, cover the pan and poach, basting the pears with their juices occasionally, for 15 minutes. Turn over the pears, and continue to cook, covered, for another 15 minutes, or until tender. If the pears look too dry, add a little more water. Turn off the heat and keep covered in the pan until ready to eat or have cooled to room temperature.
While the pears are cooking, pour the blueberries into a small saucepan, reserving ⅓ cup for later. Add 1 tablespoon of water, then bring to a simmer and cook covered until a syrup has formed. Push the berries and their syrup through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon then return sauce to the pan. Discard the leftovers in the sieve.
Transfer the pears to a serving plate. Discard the lemon zest and pour the cooking liquid into the saucepan with the wild blueberry syrup. Bring to a boil. Cook until the syrup thickens a little, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved wild blueberries. Cook for a few seconds more, then turn the heat off. Remove saucepan from the stove and cool slightly.
If eating warm, spoon the sauce over the pears. If eating cool wait until the wild blueberry sauce has cooled.

Chef Tips

The wild blueberry sauce will keep for several days in the fridge. It is delicious over pancakes, ice cream, or even drizzled onto rice pudding.

To serve this dish chilled, make it ahead of time and chill the poached pears in the fridge on a plate cut side down & covered with plastic wrap. Make the sauce as in step 4 and chill separately in a container. Bring the sauce to room temperature before drizzling over the cold pears.

Registered Dietitian Approved

Our recipes, articles, and videos are reviewed by our oncology-trained dietitians to ensure that each is backed with scientific evidence and follows the guidelines set by the Oncology Nutrition for Clinical Practice, 2nd Ed., published by the Oncology Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, a professional interest group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society

Poached Pears with Wild Blueberry Sauce