The Date

No, I'm not talking about a romantic outing.  I'm referring to the delicious and nutritious fruit, the date!  I never appreciated these delectable gems before veganism.  Now I realize how completely wonderful and versatile they are.  My favorite variety (there are several)  is the medjool date, known for being large, sweet, and succulent.  Yummy!  They are grown in the USA and the Middle East.  Dates contain lots of sugar, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, Vitamin A, B6...  The list goes on!

You seriously need to be eating these.  They are too amazing to be strangers in your home.  The sad news is that you can't really get the medjool variety here in Kirksville...unless someone else knows a hidden source.  HyVee carries one or two varieties, but they are harder and less sweet.  We get our medjools from good ole Trader Joe's!  Some things are worth the trip, ya know?

Try Dates in...

• oatmeal
• smoothies
• cookies
• scones (I especially love the Banana Date Scones from Veganomicon)
• muffins
• HOMEMADE LARABARS!!

That's right.  I said homemade Larabars.  For anyone out there who may be in the dark, Larabars are simple and delicious vegan/gluten free/kosher/etc. snack bars.  They have few ingredients, usually two to seven.  Their basic ingredients are dates, some type of nuts, and dried fruit.

I found a nice online recipe here.  I made the cashew cookie dough variety with dates cashews, and chocolate chips.  These are TO DIE FOR!  They're incredibly easy to make and they save you a lot of money over the store bought version.  Try 'em out!