Oh have I got a fancy snack for you when you are looking forward to a romantic nibble. Or just a snack that will impress your friends. It can be a bit pricey but oh so worth it. Have you ever tried a fresh date? They are delicious pieces of fruit, especially if you have a sweet tooth. And once you take a bite you'll have a hard time believing these little treasures actually have a lot of health benefits.
First what is a date? They are fruits from certain palm trees that look like an oversized raisin with some plumpness. At least the Medjool kind do. The dates tend to run a bit expensive. I usually have found them close to eight dollars for a pound or a little over a pound (Roughly thirty - forty dates). However, on one of shopping trips in search of our new produce we found I believe the package is 18 oz for 4.99. Well for that price we had to try these sweet jewels. Yum!
Now a lot of sites on the web recommended eating them raw. As long as you remove the pit. You can keep the dates in a cupboard but if you store them in your fridge they last quite a bit longer. Don't be scared of depitting these fruits. Just start to slit the tip as if you were slicing lengthwise. But just starting to slice. And you can open the slit far enough to slip out the pit. The pit looks like a piece of a pecan. Don't be tempted to taste it though. They are inedible. Most recipes recommending slipping in a nut or a cheese. As dates are awfully sweet it is good to have a salty component. Also dates by themselves contain NO sodium. So if you like your snacks to have some salt you'll have to add that component.
However, being it was New Year's Day yesterday and our favorite team was playing we opted for a fancier snack. Since you already have to remove the pit, you might as well stuff the date. We bought some Brie cheese. Just a little dab into each date. Then we chose to wrap the dates with a little prosciutto. Oh so good! Prosciutto is an Italian ham. But not just deli ham. There is a special process of curing/drying meat depending on the region and the slices are usually pretty delicate we have found. Just a little bit of that rich fattiness to cover this sweet date filled with a smooth delicate cheese. Italy meets the tropics meets France; what a beautiful world. We put them in the oven on 375 degree F for roughly fifteen minutes. This allowed the date to gooey its sweetness and allowed the meat to release its saltiness and the cheese to soften. So delicious for a romantic game snack. I liked the warmth to allow the flavors to blend and to soften the date. Just handling the date to pit them you can feel the stickiness. By wrapping the date, the sweet wasn't overpowering and yet had a luxurious texture.
Some great benefits of the date include extremely small amounts of fat, obviously no cholesterol, some protein and yes it is mainly carbohydrates but a lot of that is fiber. Because of other vitamins and minerals it includes dates are actually low on the glycemic index as they help regulate blood sugar. So for those out there who have a sweet tooth but are worried about blood sugars this might be a snack to try, especially if you stuff the date fruit with a nut. Also a date is a good source of potassium, calcium, iron, and copper. (See http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/dates.html and http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/natural-foods/natural-weight-loss-food-dates-ga.htm for more nutritional information.)
This was definitely a thumbs up pick for my hubby and me. I have a sweet tooth and I was a little worried for how sweet the fruit may be. But with the way we prepared it, even my hubby who prefers spicy or salty over sweet enjoyed this find.
May your HealthFULL Journey include fun discoveries and moments worth repeating. 'Til we meet again. . .
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