Apple-Pear-Raisin Crisp

It's official. Carlos and I are on a diet. We've gained quite a bit in the past year or so and it's time for us to slim down. It'll be especially important for us to stick with a good diet and exercise plan through the holiday season and the winter time. Because as you know, it's the time for eating lots of rich foods high in fat and calories. I'm going to start incorporating a lot more vegetables and fruits into our diet as well as reducing the amount of carbohydrates and fat we intake. I'll be baking more low-calorie desserts including this one. Apple-Pear-Raisin Crisp. Slices of Granny Smith apple and Bosc pears alongside plump, juicy raisins. It's quite heaven. And I replaced the butter in traditional crisp recipes with extra light olive oil. I also nixed the flour altogether. The result, quite delicious and refreshing!

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Bosc Pears, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup of raisins
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon of cornstarch

for topping:
1 cup of oats
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of extra light olive oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the apples, pears and raisin in a bowl and toss with the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Toss again with the cornstarch. Usually, I sugar the fruit and let it sit so that some of the excess juice comes out and then I drain. However, during the cooking process the raisins will soak up some of that juice. I did add the cornstarch just to make sure that the result wasn't a watery mess.

In a separate bowl, add the oats, brown sugar and olive oil. Add the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the texture you want (a bit clumpy and not dry). You can substitute canola oil for the olive oil if you prefer.

Add the fruit mixture to a 9" round pie dish. Make sure the mixture is even by spreading it in the dish with your hands. Sprinkle the topping over the mixture so it's evenly covered on top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes and let cool. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!