Recipe from Cara Roth, Nutritionist and friend of tuja
Often dubbed “nature’s candy” for their sweet, caramel-y taste, medjool dates are as sweet as your favourite corner store finds. Despite their hefty sugar content, medjool dates are unexpectedly low on the glycemic index – or put another way – they don’t spike spike your blood sugar like their penny-candy-counterpart would.
The reason for this is that in addition to glucose and fructose, dates are full of another F-word: fibre. And not just any fibre. Dates contain something called ‘beta-D-glucan’ – a special soluble fibre that’s been shown to be particularly adept at controlling blood sugar levels as well as cholesterol levels.
So here’s a tasty little snack or appy that will get you messin’ around with those medjools.
Ingredients
1½ cup cashews
½ cup pine nuts
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
2 tsp Braggs or Tamari
2 tsp water (you may need a bit more)
Fresh basil leaves
Method
1. In a food processor, combine the first 6 ingredients (everything except the medjool dates and basil leaves). Process until smooth and creamy. (Throughout the processing you might need to scrape the bowl down as needed and add more water if it's too thick.) Cara says that the end result should be like the consistency of natural peanut butter.
2. Once the sauce is done, line up your pitted medjool dates, neatly line the inside with a leaf of basil and follow that up with a scoop of the sauce. Keep going until you’ve got enough for your party or until you’re out of sauce!
