Simplest Dessert

I have a sweet tooth. I frequently read dessert recipe ingredient lists for the perfect dessert...something with a few vitamins and minerals, that's low fat, with good carbohydrates and a little fiber. The ingredient list for this dessert is short, and frankly, it blows me away.

When I was in Boulder a couple of months ago, I had lunch at a funky little restaurant attached to a food coop. I got the best felafel sandwich...actually, it was a "to die for" felafel sandwich. When I ordered I got to choose something to go with it. I picked an apple. I felt proud, virtuous ....."yeah, I'm eating healthy today."

Eating the sandwich, I had to stop myself from moaning out loud . Felafel sandwiches, especially perfect ones, are rare treats for me. Then I started in on the apple. I don't remember what kind of apple it was, but it was cored and the skin was still on and it was cut into razor thin slices. It was wet, crisp, sweet and... simply apple: it was extraordinary.

After lunch, I went to the coop and bought a Fuji apple and an Asian pear and took them home "to fix" with the dinner I had planned. I cored and sliced them thin, peeled and sliced kiwi fruit and made a pretty arrangement on a plate. I scattered pomegranate seeds across the top. My dinner companions loved dessert.

Now, I eat most apples that way. All it takes is a good piece of fruit, an extra sharp knife, a pretty plate and a little time and energy. Sometimes I add chopped peanuts or minced toasted almonds, sometimes I add a dusting of cinnamon. It's the perfect dessert, so simple, and so good because it tastes extraordinary.