Baked Autumn Apples with Caramel-Clove Sauce
All the fun of a caramel apple but healthier. This is a great choice for guests who are avoiding wheat in their diet.
Caramel-Clove Sauce
3/4 cup (180 mL) organic raw blue agave syrup
1/3 cup (80 mL) 35 percent cream
4 to 6 whole cloves
1 Tbsp (15 mL) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp (1 mL) sea salt
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
Apples
8 medium apples, such as McIntosh, Spartan, or Northern Spy
1/2 cup (125 mL) dried cranberries
1 tsp (5 mL) orange or lemon peel, grated
1 cup (250 mL) plain yogourt
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
Place all sauce ingredients in medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium-high heat. Stir often until mixture starts to boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, stirring often, until mixture thickens. Depending on the size of your pan, this will take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. Caramel should measure about 3/4 cup (180 mL).
Refrigerate until completely cool and firm (it won’t be hard). If making ahead, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.
Trim bottoms of apples so they sit flat. Peel a narrow strip from around tops of each. Scoop out and discard cores. Place apples in a 13 x 9 x 2 in (3.5 L) baking dish. Spoon about 1 tsp (5 mL) cooled caramel into apple hollows. Mix cranberries with orange peel, then tuck into hollows.
Pour 1/2 cup (125 mL) water into bottom of pan around apples. Cover pan snugly with foil. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil (add more water to pan, if needed). Continue to bake, uncovered, until apples are soft, 10 to 15 more minutes.
Meanwhile reheat remaining caramel sauce. Discard cloves.
Serves 8.
Each serving contains: 265 calories; 2 g protein; 6 g total fat (3 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 56 g carbohydrates; 5 g fibre; 100 mg sodium
source: "Sweet Thanks", alive #336, October 2010
Baked Autumn Apples with Caramel-Clove Sauce
Directions
READ THIS NEXT
SEE MORE »
Farro, Lentil, and Vegetable Soup
Adding farro, with its nutty bite, is a delicious and convenient way to increase your soup’s fibre and nutritional value. This hearty soup is the perfect remedy to a cold January day. Lemon and chervil add a bright contrast to the fibre-packed earthy flavours. Farro timesaver With a long cooking time, it’s worth it to cook a larger amount of farro and freeze it in small-portioned batches which can be thawed quickly. Using a ratio of 1:4 farro to water, cook on medium-high heat until farro is al dente, in a similar manner to the way you would cook pasta. Drain, rinse, portion, and freeze for later use. To thaw, simply run frozen farro under water or add directly to soup.
Arugula Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash, Pomegranate Molasses, and Pine Nuts
Oven-roasted delicata squash makes a crispy treat atop this green salad. As its name suggests, this squash has a thin, delicate skin that’s tasty when cooked. Pomegranate molasses, an ingredient common in Lebanese and Middle-Eastern cuisine, brings a sweet and sour flavour to the dressing. No pine nuts? Use squash seeds! Simply collect about 1/4 cup (60 mL) seeds from cleaned squash, rinse, and mix with 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) of the spice mix used to roast the squash and 1/2 tsp (2 mL) olive oil. Roast at 425 F (220 C) on parchment-lined baking sheet for 20 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Cardamom and Ginger Scented Farro Breakfast Porridge
Look for whole grain farro, which leaves the germ and bran intact, for this satisfying porridge that’s sure to kickstart your day. While the cooking time is longer than for pearled or semi-pearled varieties, you’ll get more nutrition. Take the time to enjoy the delicate scent of cardamom and ginger wafting through your kitchen as you prepare this. Ancient grain Farro (also referred to as emmer or einkorn) is a variety of wheat known as an ancient grain, which means that it hasn’t changed over time through breeding as is the case with many varieties of modern wheat.
Chocolate and Orange Chickpea Pudding
Spanish-inspired flavours of almond and orange and a good punch of protein make this pudding a delicious and nutritious breakfast, snack, or dessert. The tiniest amount of large-flake sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil help bring all the flavours together. Amp up the orange For some additional orange flavour, when cooking chickpeas from dry, add a few strips of orange zest to the cooking water. Tastier toast Take your toast to the next level by using this pudding as a satisfying spread.