Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I’m planning out which appetizers I’ll serve over the holidays. An easy recipe that can be pulled off in a few simple steps are these stuffed dates. The dates are filled with plant-based bacon to give it that smoky, sweet flavor and stuffed with a rich and savory cashew cheese that you can whip up yourself.
VEGAN STUFFED DATES
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in 2 cups of water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. water
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. white miso
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 sandwich bag
20 dates
5 strips of plant-based bacon, cut into 20 1-inch square pieces (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Drain and rinse the soaked cashews.
Place cashews, olive oil, water, apple cider vinegar, miso, salt and pepper into a food processor. Blend for 2 minutes, pushing down the sides with a spatula. If after 2 minutes, you don’t have a creamy hummus texture, add 1 tablespoon of water and process for another minute. Place cashew cheese into a sandwich bag and place in the fridge.
Place 20 dates on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Using a small knife, make a small slice on the top of the date and remove and discard the pit. Push 1 piece of plant-based bacon into the slit of each date. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
To fill the dates, remove the bag of cashew cheese from the fridge. Slice a tip of the bag off, creating a hole for the filling. Squeeze the filling down toward the hole and fill each date with approximately 1 teaspoon of filling. Serve!
Tasty tips
The cashew cheese can be made one day ahead of time.
To make this recipe even simpler, you can buy pre-made cashew cheese.
My favorite dates for this recipe are Medjool dates; they’re big, soft and sweet.
Garnish the stuffed dates with pomegranate seeds, toasted nuts or pumpkin seeds.