Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

The winner of our first ever Exploits  Giveaway is Jennifer G. Thank you Jennifer for playing and thank you for your comments. Hearing from all of you makes the conversation more vibrant and helpful for all. I appreciate  your comments very much.

Jennifer is the lucky recipient of an Amy’s Organics prize pack that includes a garment dyed T-shirt and a market bag.

Congrats Jennifer.

Since the beginning of the Vegan Challenge we have been snacking on dried dates. They are the most amazingly sweet and plump food I have ever tasted. They taste like mini pecan pies. I have to stop myself at two or I think I would eat them until I had a smelly belly.

The other day we stumbled upon fresh dates at the market. Neither one of us knew what they were until we saw the sign. I wanted to share them with you because they were so exotic and beautiful.

Honestly, I have never considered the fact that dried dates were once a very different fruit. They are like raisins to me…they just come that way all dried and wrinkly.

Photo By: S. Duquet

But there they were, these beautiful tawny and buxom grape looking things on a thin vine. “How do you eat those?” I questioned Sandy. “I have absolutely no idea” she replied with curiosity. It was like we were the first people to consider eating a coconut. “Can we eat this thing? I don’t know but let’s give it a go.”

Upon bringing them home, tasting them and doing further research…this is what I found.

The dates we purchased were the Barhi variety. They were in the khalal stage which means they are fully grown but still crunchy. If  left to ripen further, they would become sweeter and enter the rutab stage, meaning they are more ripe, softer and sweeter.

When we bit into them they were crunchy like a mini  green apple. You can immediately feel the sweetness and the undeveloped honey, caramel flavor that you recognize from a dried date. They taste starchy like jicama and have a drying effect on your palate like a dry red wine. We tasted them and then bailed. We put them in the food dehydrator to try and get them to the place where we could love them. Had I done the research before we tried them I would have known that they would become sweeter and less tannic if I had only waited. I read that they were yummy chopped in salads and I think I could get on board with that.

I was  so excited to have found something  undiscovered that I felt like Christopher Columbus. Enjoying the new flavor felt secondary to the joy of trying something unique.

Trying new things is exciting and part of the thrill of experimenting veg or vegan foods. Lets keep our taste buds guessing and they will never get bored.

Have a delicious day.

*Date tree photo taken in our backyard…Just kidding. It is  courtesy of Harry Dates

*Additional Date info from Local Harvest

Tags: Amy's organics, Barhi dates, compassionate eating, dairy free, exploits giveaway, fresh dates, going veg, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan wannabe