Baked apples and pears are on my mind… can you tell that I am excited for fall? Now that we’ve reached the tail-end of the first week of September, the countdown is officially ON for my favorite food season of them all! I loved living in New York City where I got to experience the changing seasons- something I never could appreciate in California. I’ve heard that Charleston autumns are just as pleasant and I couldn’t be more excited. I fall more in love with this southern city on the coast every day.
Let’s talk about baked desserts for a minute. It’s been a year since I started Nutrition By Mia and the most exciting journey to be able to connect with so many of you! Last fall I made a baked apple dessert that y’all loved so I decided to replicate that with pears and an even more nutrient-dense filling (toasted walnuts).
Nutrition:
Pears: When it comes to the good stuff, it’s all about the skin. Pear skin contains 3-4 times more phytonutrients–antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, than the flesh and about half of the total fiber content.
Walnuts: Walnuts are easily one of my favorite nuts simply because they are one of the few to boast omega-3 fatty acids. Many people don’t know about the dire importance of maintaining a proper omega 6 to omega 3 ratio which should be about 1:1. The traditional American diet includes an excessive amount of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids creating a skewed ratio that has been found to promote the pathogenesis of many diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammatory disorders and autoimmune disease. A balanced ratio has been found to exert suppressive effects.
- 1 pear, halved and cored
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp butter, melted
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp walnuts, crushed
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Halve and core your pear.
- In a small bowl, combine your butter and cinnamon.
- Coat each pear half evenly with your butter and cinnamon mixture.
- Place each pear half face up in a lined baking pan and bake for 15 minutes on each side.
- Toast your walnuts over the stove top while your pear is cooking.
- Fill each pear with your toasted walnuts, drizzle with honey and serve!
