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Sweet and succulent, pears are a fall favorite and, better still, one of Dr. Sears' "favorable" foods. Here are tips and tricks for buying and eating one of the season's most flavor-packed fruits, plus a sweet and easy poached pear recipe for breakfast:

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• Peeled, sliced pears are delicious when tossed into a salad of baby spinach leaves and dressed with a simple vinaigrette.
• Pears are one of the few fruits that do not harvest successfully on the tree, so don't let a display of rock-hard fruit at the market deter you. Do not refrigerate unripe pears; rather store them in a paper bag, as the gases released by the fruit help the ripening process. Or, store in another warm place and refrigerate them only after they've ripened. Pears ripen from the core out, so if the flesh feels soft around the stem, it's probably ripe throughout.
• Buy firm, unblemished fruit. Bartlett pears change color as they ripen, whereas as Anjou, Bosc, and Seckel pears do not.

Poached Fruit with Cheese

Ingredients
3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 apple, cored and cut in wedges*
1/3 cup Mandarin orange sections
1/2 pear, cut in 3 wedges
1 tablespoon almonds, chopped
1-inch piece cinnamon stick
1 cup water

Instructions
In medium saucepan bring water, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a boil. Add apple and pear, return to a boil, and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add orange sections and simmer 1 minute more. Place cottage cheese sprinkled with almonds in a serving bowl. Remove apple and pear with slotted spoon to serving bowl, and place on top of cottage cheese. Serve immediately.

*Note: To stop apples from turning brown, dip cut apples in a little lemon juice and water mixture.

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