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Dates

By Food & Wine

Updated September 21, 2017

From salads to main course to desserts, the sweet taste of dates can be used in a variety of ways to add flavor to your favorite dishes. Tapas dishes like chorizo-filled dates wrapped in bacon are a sure fire way to impress at your next party while mint-and-date dipping sauce is perfect pair for all your party appetizers. Scroll though for more of our favorite recipes that are easy and delicious!

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Clean Bars 

© Constantine Poulos

San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino is an avid cyclist who often takes lengthy rides. He developed these clean bars to take on the road: They have minimal ingredients but pack a ton of flavor. His secret ingredient is coffee salt, which gives a jolt of energy while also replenishing sodium levels.

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Date Scones with Fleur de Sel Whipped Butter

© Rick Poon

These tender scones offer an irresistible mix of sweet and salty thanks to the chopped dates in the batter and the salted butter served alongside.

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Chorizo-Filled Dates Wrapped in Bacon

This timeless tapa from Spanish cookbook author Penelope Casas has everything going for it—it's sweet, smoky and savory, all in one bite.

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Sautéed Parsnips with Dates and Spiced Yogurt

Jeff Cerciello says the inspiration to combine parsnips and dates came from Moro, a Moorish restaurant in London. To get the parsnips nicely browned, he cooks them on the stovetop in batches before roasting them with the dates, which caramelize in the oven.

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Quinoa Salad with Grilled Scallions, Favas and Dates

"One thing I've learned as a chef is not to overfeed your customers—a food coma is very unpleasant," says Charlie Parker of Plum restaurant in Oakland, California. This salad of grilled spring vegetables feels just filling enough, thanks to the protein-rich quinoa and a puree of dates that are grilled first to soften them and intensify their natural sweetness.

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Celery Salad with Walnuts, Dates and Pecorino

This impressive cool-weather salad is an extraordinarily addictive mix of sweet, crunchy and salty ingredients.

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Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lentils and Dates

Main-course salads are perfect for light dinners; this one--with nourishing lentils, almonds and plenty of spice-roasted cauliflower--is delicious and satisfying.

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Roasted Mascarpone-Filled Dates with Watercress & Brioche

At her eponymous restaurant in Vail, Colorado, chef Kelly Liken serves these stellar dates with watercress and a balsamic gastrique (sauce). The recipe here swaps out the gastrique for a basic vinaigrette.

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Mascarpone-Stuffed Dates

A dusting of unsweetened cocoa adds an appealing bitterness to this simple one-bite dessert.

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Quinoa Pilaf with Dates, Olives and Arugula

© Eva Kolenko

F&W's Kay Chun dresses her brightly flavored sweet and savory quinoa pilaf with olive oil and lemon juice.

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Feta Cheesecake & Wine-Poached Dates

Pastry chefs have become obsessed with pungent cheeses. Eric Estrella of Francois Payard's Manhattan restaurant, InTent, adds tangy feta to cheesecake topped with wine-poached dates.

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Slow-Cooked Lamb With Cipolini Dates, Kale and Almonds

© Chris Court

Keller's trick for yielding extra-flavorful meat is seasoning the roast a day in advance: The lamb takes on the aroma of garlic and thyme as well as a subtle heat from piment d'Espelette, a smoky, mildly spicy ground pepper.

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Red Pepper and Onion Tarts with Dates and Fried Cheese

Ana Sortun sometimes uses halloumi, a slightly sweet cow's milk cheese from Cyprus, instead of Greek Kasseri. Alternatively, you can sprinkle crumbled feta over the pita tarts. For round tarts, use a biscuit cutter to stamp out circles from the pitas, before spreading them with the onion-pepper mixture.

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Coconut Quinoa Porridge with Ginger and Dates

Quinoa makes a wonderful breakfast alternative to oatmeal. Cooking it in coconut milk makes for an especially creamy (yet vegan-friendly) start to the day.

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Date-Sweetened Quinoa Porridge

This tasty porridge made with quinoa, diced pitted dates, and hints of cinnamon and nutmeg is ready in only twenty-five minutes. Sprinkle with chopped toasted pecans.

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Espresso Date Log with Greek Yogurt

Sticky, dried dates are supersweet, so Maura Kilpatrick simmers them with espresso to make a thick paste, which she molds and freezes. When she slices the log to serve, she tops it with pistachios and tangy Greek yogurt.

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Haricots Verts and Chestnuts with Date Vinaigrette

At No. 9 Park, Barbara Lynch serves a haricots verts salad with a hazelnut vinaigrette. Here, she adds fresh chestnuts to give the dish a meaty fall flavor. Finely chopped dates in the cider vinegar dressing lend a lovely, subtle sweetness.

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Mint-and-Date Dipping Sauce

Padma Lakshmi calls this sauce "liquid heaven." She purees sticky dates with fresh mint, lemon juice and chile, creating a sweet, bright-flavored and slightly spicy sauce. It's a stellar accompaniment to the kathi rolls, but Padma also uses it as a sandwich spread or whisks it into salad dressing.

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Date-and-Almond Fudge with Sesame and Coconut

Bloggers Melissa and Jasmine Hemsley make this minimalist recipe with healthy fats--coconut oil and roasted almond butter--for a sticky, rich and satisfying vegan sweet.

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Date and Fig Pastilla

© JOHN KERNICK

Pastilla (also known as b'steeya) is a traditional Moroccan dish in which phyllo dough is wrapped around a spiced chicken-and-almond filling and baked. This is Pascal Rigo's playful dessert version of that classic.

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Turkey-Date Meatballs with Lentils and Yogurt Sauce

The Good News Turkey is not only a soporific but a source of iron, zinc, potassium and B vitamins

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Date, Goat Cheese and Pancetta on Walnut Bread

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Date Quick Bread with Pecan Streusel

This date-studded quick bread can be made into mini loaves to give as gifts, or it can be baked as a standard loaf for serving at a meal. The streusel topping uses fresh pecans, a traditional gift in the South.

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