D is for DAMN GOOD!

Dates are cute, wrinkly, healthy, sweet and yummy little buggers! A great raw choice for sugar!

I remember the first time I ate a real date—not the crusty cigar kind you find in lame groceries. A real date isn’t dried out, it’s plump and moist with a thin skin, long seed and an incredibly intense sweet flavor. I have fond memories of eating dates and spitting the seeds out into humid Florida nights with my crazy old raw food friend Jason.

Dates are high in iron, potassium, fiber and a bunch o’ vitamins. They’ve got no fat or cholesterol. YES they are 50 to 70% sugar…but it’s a good, natural sugar. Most dates don’t even have sucrose. If you’re looking for a healthy way to satiate a sugar craving dig on a date!

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We used MEDJOOL dates on the show but all varieties are delicious--just stay away from ones that are too dry, they should be moist. Store ‘em in your fridge or freeze them. A lot of dates on the market are organic, and difference in price is minimal so go for it. One great place to get your date fix is to order online!

Dates are grown on cool palm trees, known as "the tree of life." They are one of the oldest crops cultivated by humans! Their birthplace lies in Iraq, where they are eaten a lot. During Ramadan, Islamic people usually break their fasts with a date! Nomadic people used to live off of a concoction of dates and milk, which was quite possibly the world’s first smoothie!

THE DATE SHAKE is so simple and so delicious; everyone should know how to make it. So we rocked out with the recipe on the show and all enjoyed several rounds of smoothies!

I don’t think anything beats the combination of dates and almonds. When I make a date shake I usually throw in a good tablespoon of almond butter to thicken it up and pump up the flavor. Lots of cats stuff dates with cheese, but that’s fattening and messy. A healthier and yummier option is to use a raw almond. Just carefully pull out the pits from your dates and plug an almond in the hole.

It was that date and almond combo that led me to use ALMOND MILK for my smoothies. One thing I wanted to do on the episode was show off my homemade almond milk recipe. No time for that, so I’ll post it under recipes! You can use the same recipe to make any of the nut milks—cashew, macadamia, etc…or just go the easy route and buy a carton of milk like I did on the show.

Dates are also used in baking a lot and also make a killer addition to green and couscous salads. Hey, they’re cheap, fun and easy. So get hungry and get down with some dates!

-Gregory