Just another bad, desperate date picture. Imagine the real deal with greek yogurt (not Yoplait), big flaky sea salt (not Mortons) and a real photographer (not me). By the way, even as stand ins these were still darned good.

There are certain things I can’t make when I am going to be home alone for a long stretch. One is bread. I learned this the day after I received a bread machine for my birthday—something I had in fact pleaded for. I was single at the time, recently out of a career and not entirely hopeful about my future. A bread machine was the worst thing to add to this mix. I made a loaf, I ate the loaf, I wiped out the machine repackaged it and brought it back to the store. If you happened to buy a bread machine around the spring of ‘95 at the Reno Macy’s it may have been test driven. Sorry.

That’s the long way of saying that I’ve discovered yet another thing I cannot make when I am alone. Sauteed, salted dates. Really, they are ridiculous. Salty, sweet, creamy and even crunchy (if you cook them too long the way I like to). Also they are easy to make, to serve and to eat. They are very quick, pretty healthy, and totally delicious.

The only beef I have with the recipe featured on Food52 is that they call for unpitted dates and then suggest luscious variations, all using pitted dates. Now really, who wants to deal with date pits, especially at a party? Let’s just leave them out. So here you go. Happy date night!

Sauteed Salted Dates

Serves as many as you care to serve

Ingredients:

• sharp extra-virgin olive oil.
• pitted medjool dates (Deglet will do, but medjool are A team material. (count on 4 to 5 per person as an appetizer)
• flaky sea salt. The good stuff here–you need those big flakes.

Method:

Heat 1/4 inch olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Fill the pan with dates and cook, turning them a few times, just until they’ve warmed through. (They burn easily, so don’t overdo it if you want soft dates, but do overdo it if you want some crunch) Serve them on a plate with flaky sea salt.

Notes:

These can be served as is or… with warm bread to sop up the oil, on a shallow plate spread with good plain greek yogurt and drizzled with the leftover oil in the pan, with a wedge of blue cheese and a sprinkling of nuts. Get totally pro and add pistachios to the pan as you heat the dates. Or just saute and salt those babies and be done with it. Be as plain or as fancy as you like.

There are no amounts here, which is key. If you are alone and feeling vulnerable to sweet salty overindulgence, make just a few. If you are having a party, make a whole bunch. Leftover dates, if you manage to resist, are good any time of day. I know. I’ve tried. A-ny-time.