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Quick And Easy Recipe For Sautéed Dates

Photo Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Photo Courtesy of Simon & Schuster
Molly Wizenberg lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter and two dogs, where she and her husband own and run the restaurants Delancey and Essex. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoirs A Homemade Life and Delancey, now out in paperback from sister company Simon & Schuster and available wherever books are sold.

These quick, elegant and endlessly adaptable dates are a go-to summer recipe for Molly Wizenberg, the voice behind the James Beard Award winning food blog Orangette and New York Times bestselling author of Delancey. They can be served as an appetizer or as a dessert. They can also be sliced, pitted and served as part of a salad with oranges, pistachios, Parmigiano-Reggiano and lettuce. You might also like them with breakfast, served with cold yogurt. This is the basic method, to be enjoyed with as many or few dates as you'd like.

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Photo Credit: Thinkstock Photo Credit: Thinkstock
Sautéed Dates With Olive Oil And Sea Salt

Ingredients

  • Whole dried medjool dates
  • Olive oil
  • Crunchy salt, such as maldon or fleur de sel

Directions

  • Place a heavy skillet over medium heat and pour in enough olive oil to lightly film the bottom of the pan.
  • When the oil is warm and runs loosely around the pan, add the dates, taking care not to crowd them. Cook, turning the dates frequently so that they heat on all sides, until they feel hot to the touch. They should cook fairly gently; if they're taking on color, reduce the heat or turn them more often. Because of their high sugar content, dates can scorch easily, so keep an eye on them. You're just briefly warming and softening them, encouraging them to absorb richness and flavor from the olive oil.
  • Transfer the hot dates to a serving dish and drizzle them with some olive oil from the skillet. Salt generously if you plan to serve them on their own, or only lightly if you're serving them in a salad or with yogurt.

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Molly Wizenberg lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter and two dogs, where she and her husband own and run the restaurants Delancey and Essex. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoirs A Homemade Life and Delancey, now out in paperback from sister company Simon & Schuster and available wherever books are sold.
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