Hibiscus-Raspberry Poached Pears for Your Slow Cooker

Bright red, slightly sweet hibiscus tea comes from the tuba-shaped flowers of the hibiscus plant, which get their red colour from a potent compound called anthocyanin. Pairing hibiscus tea with juicy, fibre-rich pears can help steady blood sugar, and the very high antioxidant levels in hibiscus blooms have been shown to calm blood pressure. Use this delicious juicy dish as a sweet breakfast or a healthy way to quell a sweet tooth in the afternoon. For spice lovers, add an extra sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Serves 8

Ingredients
4 pears
240g frozen or fresh raspberries or cranberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cardamom or 6 green cardamom pods
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp stevia
2 hibiscus tea bags
480g plain Greek yoghurt

Method
Cut each pear in half lengthwise, leaving the stems intact. Scoop out the cores with a melon baller or cut them out with a paring knife. Place the pears skin-side down in the slow cooker. Add the raspberries, 480ml water, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, and stevia. Remove the tags from the tea bags and tuck the tea bags among the pears. Cover the slow cooker and cook on the high setting for 3 hours, until the pears are tender and the berries form a sauce. Discard the tea bags.

Using a large spoon, place each pear half on a plate and top with a few tablespoons of the berry sauce and 60g of the yoghurt. Serve immediately.

Nutritional stats per serving
150 kilocalories, 5g protein, 21g carbohydrates, 6g fat (5g saturated fat), 10mg cholesterol, 13g sugars, 5g fibre, 33mg sodium

Extracted from The Healing Slow Cooker by Jennifer Iserloh (Chronicle Books, approx €20.50). Photographs © 2017 by Chronicle Books LLC.

http://www.abramsandchronicle.co.uk/books/food-and-drink/9781452160634-the-healing-slow-cooker

For more recipes from The Healing Slow Cooker, pick up the January/February issue of IMAGE Magazine, out December 29.