Poached Pears With Chocolate Sauce

This is a dessert that looks much fancier and more elegant than it really is. It's a great way to get some healthy fruit on the table, and while chocolate sauce adds some calories, there's actually little fat in it.

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 7 Tbsp granulated sugar
• Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 pears
• 4 Tbsp chocolate sauce

In a large saucepan, combine the water, sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Peel, halve and core the pears. Add the pears to the boiling syrup. (Pears should be covered in liquid; if not, double the amount of poaching liquid or poach in batches.) Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes or until the pears are almost tender (pears will continue to cook while cooling). Remove from the heat and let pears cool in the liquid.
Drain the pears thoroughly and pat dry on paper towels. Arrange the pear halves on individual plates. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and serve at room temperature.
Each of the 8 servings contains 168 calories and less than 1 gram of fat.
Source: American Institute for Cancer Research