My husband was recently promoted and after a long few months of grueling training, many celebrations were in order! For my husband and I, the best way to celebrate is with steak dinner—yes we are the type of people that would rather make our favorite foods at home than go out to a fancy dinner.  After posting about this meal on Instagram, so many people asked me to share the details, so here is one of our favorite recipes! We believe in celebrating, perfectly grilled filet mignon and a good bottle of red wine.  Thankfully, my husband makes the best steak in the world, so while he was grilling it up, I placed these prosciutto wrapped cheesy dates into the oven.

Trust me, your kitchen will instantly smell delicious and these blistered dates are a great dish to gather around while you are waiting for the rest of the food to cook.  It is the perfect sweet and savory bite and a favorite in our household.  I wanted to share this great recipe with you all as the first of a few upcoming recipes focusing on fall entertaining.  The dates only take a few minutes to prepare and about 10 minutes to cook, so place them in the oven as your guests begin to arrive and wait as your kitchen starts to smell magical.  So here are the blistered dates that will have everyone reaching for seconds—grain free entertaining made simple and delicious!

Our favorite meal as seen on Instagram.

Nutrition tips for eating and enjoying dessert

Recently due to my health, I have been avoiding most desserts and sweet baked goods, even though all my dessert recipes call for the smallest amount of sweeteners.  So I have been enjoying treats such as my amazing grain & nut free sandwich bread topped with butter or a slice of raw, aged cheese and occasionally one of these blistered dates!  Something I always tell people when doing nutrition consulting is that when eating something sweet always eat it with a good quality fat—such as butter, nuts or in this case raw cheese and prosciutto.  You will notice that my desserts are always high in fat such as my double chocolate coconut macaroons, lilikoi cheesecake or lemon cake.  Adding quality fats such as coconut milk, heavy whipping cream, eggs, butter or nuts to your desserts helps the sugar slowly enter your blood stream so that you don’t have an instant rush of sugar.

Prosciutto Wrapped Blistered Dates

Sweet and savory bites for a fall inspired grain and gluten free appetizer.  Sweet dates are stuffed with aged cheese and wrapped in prosciutto for the perfect flavor with each bite.

Ingredients

• 12 medjool dates
• 6 slices prosciutto
• 12 slices manchego or parmesan cheese
• few pinches of fleur de sel
• sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Slice prosciutto in half.  Thinly slice cheese so that it will fit into the dates.  Use a knife to make a slit in the dates, removing the pits.  Stuff cheese in the middle of dates, then fold prosciutto and wrap around the dates.
• Place in a skillet or baking dish and bake for 10-12 minutes or until dates begin to blister.
• When the dates come out of the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes before placing on serving dish.  Arrange on a bed of arugula and sprinkle a dash of salt and pinch of fresh rosemary on top if desired.