When J announced that she’d bring her little daughter over for Halloween trick-n-treat, I knew that I couldn’t give her the horrible candy that goes around this time of the year. I wanted to make a little dried fruit and nut treat. J hadn’t gotten the little one started on nuts yet, so I’d have to skip on the nuts. I asked if she’d eat coconut but they hadn’t begun feeding her that either. So coconut was out too.
Let’s keep it simple, right?
I picked Nupur’s recipe for Date-Nut Slices, tweaked it and tweaked it and then some more… and then came up my own nut-free version.
Chop roughly 1 cup of dates. I used Medjool. They’re very soft and fleshy. If you use a drier variety, then you may need to soak them for a while so as to soften them. I had 4 dried figs, so I added them as well. Remember to get the pits out for the dates! Ghee is so good for you and little M is okay with it. So I warmed a couple of teaspoons of ghee, added the chopped fruit and began to stir it. I also threw in a smidgen of salt and half a teaspoon of dry ginger powder to add some heat and cut the sweetness. The fruit breaks apart and then becomes a delicious mess. Keep stirring until you achieve a homogeneous consistency. Take it off the fire. Let it cool. Now make a log of it, cover it in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer for an hour or more. Take it out, cut into slices, serve.
There you go – a delicious and healthy snack that is so good for you!
As we approach winter, it is important to consume foods that are warming and provide lubrication to our internal organs and joints. Both fall and winter are dry seasons; so it is vital that we include dried fruit and nuts (please soak before eating), ghee, olive oil, flaxseed, sesame, ginger and other “warming” foods in our regular diet.
