The weekend is here, yet again – and for many of us that means time spent with family, hopefully doing something that involves activity either outside or inside, and gathering around the table for a nice dinner at night.  If you are by yourself, it might be the time when you allow yourself a treat, or select Saturday or Sunday to be when you will have your cheat meal of the week.   You may invite people over and want to entertain. Regardless – I thought of a nice, light dessert that won’t blow your diet completely and still impress and use a little bit of wine that you may already have purchased for yourself for Saturday night 🙂

Try it out  – but make sure you do something active today or whenever you are going to enjoy this dessert. Today I don’t have time to go to the gym because I have to travel into the city to teach a wine class, so I pulled out my Insanity CDs and did 45 minutes of cardio conditioning at home – perfect substitution and sometimes your own body weight can be just as challenging as those weights! Enjoy your weekend!

RIESLING BAKED PEARS 

adapted from Eating Well Magazine

Serves 4

4 ripe pears, preferably Bosc, with stems, washed and dried

2 cups Riesling or other fruity white wine

1/4 cup honey

4 cinnamon sticks

4 bay leaves

4 strips orange zest

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each pear, so they will stand upright. Arrange the pears in a 9- to 10-inch pie pan or similar baking dish. Whisk wine and honey in a medium bowl until well blended; pour over the pears. Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and orange zest to the wine mixture around the pears.

Roast the pears, basting every 15 minutes, until they are wrinkled and tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the type of pear used.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears to shallow dessert bowls. Pour the wine mixture into a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil until slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. Drizzle over the pears and garnish with the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and orange zest. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled – with low fat ricotta cheese or fromage blanc (similar to creme fraiche but very low in calories.  You may want to spice up the ricotta/fromage blanc cheese with some stevia or lemon zest, cinnamon, etc.

Per serving: 241 calories; 0 g fat ,43 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein