Cardamom Baked Pears

• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 cup white wine
• Pinch ground white pepper, optional
• 1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
• 2 firm ripe pears, such as Comice or Anjou, halved and seeded
• 1 1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 tsp. nonhydrogenated vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 Tbs. pine nuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Place one oven rack in top of oven and one in middle of oven.
3. Combine wine, cardamom, and white pepper, if using, in 8-inch-square baking dish.
4. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into wine mixture, and add scraped pod.
5. Place pears cut-side up in baking dish.
6. Pour lemon juice over pears, allowing excess to spill over.
7. Sprinkle with sugar, and top each pear half with margarine piece.
8. Cover pan with foil, place on middle rack in oven, and bake 30 minutes, or until tender.
9. Remove foil; turn oven to broil, and shift baking pan to top rack.
10. Broil 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
11. Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in skillet over medium heat, shaking pan frequently, 4 to 5 minutes, or until browned.
12. Transfer pears to serving plates, drizzle with juice from pan, and sprinkle with pine nuts.

ground cardamom, white wine, ground white pepper, vanilla bean, firm ripe pears, lemon juice, sugar, margarine, pine nuts

Taken from www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/cardamom-baked-pears/ (may not work)