Relatively healthy fruit desserts?

[resonant]

I made roasted peaches a couple of times this summer (an absolutely marvelous dessert -- you cut them in quarters -- a little butter, a little sugar, a little lemon juice, maybe a sprig of rosemary), and the spouse and the kidlet have been asking for them again, but there are no fresh peaches to be had.

Who has recipes along those lines? Mostly fruit, lightly sweetened, reasonably low in fat, something that a spouse with high cholesterol can eat multiple times a week?

Comments

[misspamela]

Baked apples or apple chips? Grilled pineapple?

[sara]

This time of year, you can do the same thing seasonally with apples -- a little cinnamon, a little ginger, core them and poach them in a pan.

I don't do a lot of fruit, myself (I am really more a vegetables girl) but Mother speaks highly of roasted apples.

[ellen_fremedon]

Fruit stews and compotes are tasty in winter-- prunes stewed with orange zest and an Earl Grey teabag is a favorite. Or poached pears!

[jood]

Caramelized figs (quartered, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, sweet cream sherry, a dash of brown sugar and cinnamon). You can even make them in the toaster oven. And if you get ambitious you can make a sorbet out of them.

The Honeycrisps are beautiful right now, and they don't need any embellishment. Biting into one is like taking a hit right off a keg of unfiltered cider. For extra fun, though, you could put a dollop of warm caramel in the center of the dish, for dipping.

Pomegranates are going to be crazy good from now until January. Juice them and make a slightly-sweetened granita. You can up the ante with a little orange zest or tangerine juice.

Mangoes are still in the stores, and you can make a great 5-minute compote with them. They're also good ripe with just a wee sprinkle of black pepper.

Jell-O makes a fat-free, sugar-free pudding that can serve as a foundation for small fruit tarts. Mix up one package of lemon with one package of cheesecake, using fat-free milk. Use it to fill a tart shell, cover with sliced berries, and dot on a quick glaze made out of apricot jam and a bit of lemon juice. This is crazy wicked good.

[minxy]

You can also saute apples and eat them with pork chops instead of apple sauce.

I'm also a huge fan of crisps; my favorite this time of year is a mix of apples, pears and dried cranberries with a crumble of oatmeal crisp over top. If you wanted to skip the doughy bit, though, you could adapt any fruit crisp or cobbler recipe and bake your fruit of choice while you eat supper.

[lomedet]

Grapefruit?

Cut it in half, put in a pan face-up, sprinkle some sugar over the top, and broil it.

[mergatrude]

Nigella's Eton Mess is infinitely adaptable. I can't eat cream, so I make it with yoghurt, and have replaced the crumbled meringue with biscotti and wafers. Also, I use any fruit - fresh or tinned - available. (And you can make an adult version by soaking the fruit in liqueur - Amaretto is a favourite.)

I also like her Summer Crumble because it's made with ground and flaked almonds, rather than oats, but it does have butter in it, so maybe not so good for low cholesterol eating. Again, it's very versatile and I usually make it with apples and frozen berries.

[crysothemis]

Another seasonal fruit -- cranberries poached in a light syrup with orange zest. Cook them just until they pop. So delicious!

Also maybe poached pears? Can you roast pears? I have no idea.

[abbylee]

Adding to the suggestions above, grilled bananas are also fantastic.

[torch]

You can oven roast just about any fruit, or combo of fruit, that you like, or that your family likes -- me, I just chop stuff up a little and sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on top (and cook it slowly cause I like when you get that hot fruit soup effect at the bottom of the dish, but that's a personal preference). Mixing stuff is good for flavor, like apples with citrus of some kind, or plums with pears. Basically, hot fruit salad. ;)

[andeincascade]

You'll want to avoid grapefruit, Res, if the spouse is on any kind of cholesterol-lowering meds. It increases the chance of liver damage.

But what a great request; I'm seeing lots of things I want to try here.

[maire]

Summer pudding might be good. There are tonnes of recipes out there. Berries..mmmm...

[lim]

Appppppppples:

Baked apples-people fill them with things and so forth, but really all you need to do with good eating apples is take a knife and run it round their equator, then pop in the oven at 180 or 200 deg. C for 20 minutes. They will puff up and the sugars will make the skins sweet and chewy.

Apple cake is quick and can be made with rice milk and light margarine, er, apple cake recipe.

Apples stewed in an orange is good=-cut the apples into thick wedges, skin on, and put them in a small saucepan; squeeze an orange over the top, then put the lid on and stew gently for 5-10 minutes--I have that in my porridge instead of honey sometimes. Plums are good stewed, particularly with a bit of lemon juice and a star anise, but nearly all stewed fruit goes well with cinammon, mace and nutmeg.

And most fruit - apples, pears, plums, bananas, peaches, berries can be cut up and cooked in a Yorkshire pudding batter, which can be made successfully with skimmed milk and oil.

[octette]

I totally recommend Nigella's summer crumble (and the jumbleberry crumble). I make these for people who are watching their cholesterol; I use Earth Balance or Smart Balance, whichever is on sale when I'm purchasing it, and it comes out fine. I have been using frozen berries mixed with frozen cherries. (I tried peaches once, but I found that the frozen peaches just don't taste like fresh peaches, whereas I can't tell the difference with berries and cherries.)

[yarngeek]

Sorbet? I remember making strawberry sorbet in the Cuisinart with frozen strawberries and sugar and a hit of lemon juice. I strongly recommend hearing protection if you go this route. (There's also the ice cream maker method, but it requires an ice cream maker and I have not yet made sorbet that way.)

[fiamaya]

You can roast pears just like peaches -- quarter them, dot with butter, sprinkle some sugar, and roast at 400 for 20-30 min, followed by a splash with lemon juice (or brandy or white wine). If you do it in a pan that can go on the stove, you can cook the juice that you might end up with for a minute or two after the pears come out, so it carmelizes a little bit.

[indywind]

+1 baked apples.
I like 'em with either cinnamon, walnuts and raisins in the core cavity, or ginger, nutmeg, lemon juice & zest. Little bit of butter or light olive oil, little bit of brown sugar, bake til tender. For extra yum, serve with a spoonful of lowfat yogurt.

Pears are good too, though they do better poached than baked, I think. Peel, seed, simmer in just enough water to cover with a couple tsp of sugar, opt. spices, til tender & the liquid is reduced. For extra yum, put a cup of lowfat cottage cheese in the blender with ~1tbs honey and a dash of vanilla, and spoon the resulting creamy whippy stuff over the pears.

[laurajv]

You can poach pears in red wine, as well -- they turn a lovely burgundy color. Depending on what else you put in them, they can be desserty that way, or a nice dinner side dish.

[mergatrude]

A couple of other things I thought of last night: poached pears in Sauterne (rather than red wine - recipes all over the internet) with spiced yoghurt, and I have made a rather yummy strawberry banana tofu ice cream which is dairy free (recipe at home if you'd like me to dig it out, but it's more of a summer thing).

[caseylane]

Crap, I'm going to have to link this journal in my memories. I want to try everything mentioned here.

[castiron]

From Moosewood Cooks at Home: Frozen banana slices (not too ripe), put into a food processor or blender and pureed until smooth but still cold. It's almost an ice cream texture and very tasty.

[krait]

I'm certain you could do something similar with pears! I know I've seen baked/poached/whatever pear recipes before, and I'm sure the internet will supply you with some. Off the top of my head, I'd maybe lightly drizzle halves with honey, dab with butter, and dust with cinnamon/nutmeg (or nutmeg/clove, or pumpkin-pie spice, or maybe even something a bit outre like sea salt) and bake, but there are probably more precise ideas out there. :D

I have no idea where pears stand on the "levels of sugar" scale, but they don't seem terribly sweet to me...

Bananas can be used in various dessertlike ways, too, but as I'm not all that fond of them I'd have to go Googling (or Food Network searching) for ideas for that.

Not sure what besides pears are in season right now; it's a bit early, I think, for citrus... But when it is in season, I admit I LOVE a fruit salad with peeled grapefruit/orange/tangerine chunks (could be served over a low-fat angel food cake? or with frozen yogurt? or mixed in lite Jello? or as parfait with lowfat pudding or Greek yogurt!)

[krait]

Forgot to add: the brand of Greek yogurt I adore has a fat-free and a 2% fat version. I honestly can't tell the difference between the full-fat and the 2% -- and while the nonfat tastes a bit different to me I still like the way it tastes quite a lot. :D

[resonant]

note to self: not fruit, but looks nice just the same -- from Mark Bittman:

27. Cranberry Polenta Cakes: Make polenta with half milk, half water; stir in chopped fresh or dried cranberries. When thick, pour onto a sheet tray and let cool. Cut into squares and sauté or broil until slightly crisp. Drizzle with honey.

[resonant]

also from Bittman:

90. Baked Apples: Combine chopped pecans and chopped dried fruit (raisins, dates, figs, cranberries all work) and toss with maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg or all three. Fill the cavities of cored apples with the fruits and nuts, dot each with butter, put into a baking dish and roast about 30 minutes, until tender. Better with vanilla ice cream.

91. Pears in Red Wine: Simmer 2 cups red wine with 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cloves, a cinnamon stick and a few slices of ginger in a pot for a few minutes, then gently poach peeled and cored pears (use a spoon to hollow them from bottom), until soft. Cool or chill, and serve with a bit of the poaching liquid.

[to try topped with fruit compote] 95. Indian Pudding: Combine 3 cups of milk and 1/3 cup of cornmeal in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; stir in 1/3 cup of molasses, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and stir until melted. Pour pudding into a buttered baking dish and bake at 300 degrees for about 2 hours, uncovered, until golden brown and set in the middle. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

96. Sweet Autumn Gratin: Combine cubed pumpkin or sweet potato with cranberries and hazelnuts in a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar and toss. Drizzle cream over all, dot with butter and bake until soft, bubbly and browned, 50 to 60 minutes. Re-warm before serving if you like.

97. Prunes With Hazelnuts: Simmer prunes in port with cloves and cinnamon until soft; remove prunes and reduce syrup. Strain over the prunes. Top them with whipped cream, and the cream with chopped toasted hazelnuts.

[resonant]

fyi

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/01/dining/the-minimalist-for-dessert-the-magic-of-aspic.html?scp=1&sq=bittman%20citrus%20gelatin&st=cse

[resonant]

tried this and it was quite a lot of work for a result that the family was pretty meh about.