Pomegranate Poached Pears with Chocolate & Raspberry Sauce

Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredients You'll Need
Poached pears:
6 medium pears, ripe (still firm)
2 cups pomegranate juice
1 whole cinnamon stick
6 whole cloves
2 Tbsp. Goji berries (optional)
Chocolate sauce:
1 cup frozen blueberries
1Tbsp. Goji berries or 1 tsp. turmeric (to adjust color)
1 generous Tbsp. cocoa powder (or more for darker, stronger sauce; use natural cocoa powder, nut Dutch processed)
1-1/2 cups soy milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pitted dates
2/3 cup raw macadamia nuts, unsalted (or wash salt off)
Raspberry sauce:
10 oz. frozen raspberries (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (optional)
Directions
Poached pears:
Peel peas, leaving stems intact. Slice a little off the bottom of each pear so that they stand up. In a large saucepan, place pears standing up snuggly together. Pour in pomegranate juice and add cinnamon, cloves, and Goji berries. Gently simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, until pears are tender. Remove pears and refrigerate until ready to serve. Reduce poaching liquid until it becomes syrup.
Chocolate sauce:
Place all chocolate sauce ingredients in blender. Blend until very smooth and creamy. Add more soy milk, if needed.
Raspberry sauce:
Defrost raspberries and blend until smooth. Push through sieve to remove seeds. Add poaching syrup and sweeten if necessary with maple syrup.
Pace a generous dollop of chocolate on dessert plate. Place pear on chocolate and drizzle Raspberry Sauce over pear. Serves 6.