Friday, May 29, 2009

Date and Orange Salad



I always thought dates were those dried up turds you pick up in a plastic container at the super market. That was before I visited Southern California and discovered what a real date should taste like. I learned that there are 300 different types of dates, after much sampling my favorite was the popular medjool. Each date seems to have a different taste and texture. Saudi Arabia is homeland to the date palm, over 10000 years old, the oldest tree in the world. See you came for a recipe and you got all these juicy date facts, what a bargain! Now dates are a big part of my life, and I not referring to my social life, that's an entirely separate blog. This is a simple salad that would be perfect as the days warm up. I usually prepare this salad a few hours before my guests arrive so the oranges, bananas and dates can really absorb the honey and lemon juice. I like to top it off with chopped pistachios, lightly toasted hazelnuts would be delicious as well.





  • 4 oranges , peeled , removing all white membrane, cut into thin slices


  • 12 dates pitted and halved length wise


  • 2 bananas peeled and sliced


  • 3 Tb of honey


  • juice of 1 to 2 lemons depending on size


  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon


  • handful of chopped pistachios


Arrange orange slices on a plate. Add banana slices and dates . In small bowl mix together lemon juice and honey. Add cinnamon. Pour over fruit. Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours.

3 comments:

  1. Oh my this looks so good. I remember my grandma always having dates in the kitchen. She was an exquisite cook and baked a whole host of cookies and deserts using various types of dates.(sometimes they were those turds lol)

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  2. Oh My! This more than a salad looks like a dessert. My mouth is watering just of thinking about the flavors. Just today I had an apple, strawberry salad topped with walnuts and dates that were finely chopped in a food processor. They were great.

    Thanks for another great recipe.

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  3. Hey! Thanks for stopping by my blog! Frozen key lime pie? I am intrigued... LOL. Wow this date and orange salad looks absolutely delicious. I'll be moving to SoCal soon so I definitely want to find real dates and try this out!

    So you are a therapist? That is so cool!

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