If you’ve been reading spabettie since at least last summer, you know we love to grill. Jason always says he would grill year round – if we had a covered porch, he would be out there in the snow.
Right now, the weather is perfect for grilling! We have been enjoying temps in the 70′s and 80′s, which are to continue through this weekend. Not even completely settled in our new house, the grill is set up and this was the first recipe I grilled!
The grilled part of this recipe is my new favorite snack - a date stuffed with rosemary. Grilled. Sticky charred sweetness infused with fresh rosemary is simple and complex all at once. We ate plenty of these as is, warm straight off the grill. I saved enough for these bars, adding that grilled flavor to a sweet and savory treat.
I have entered this recipe into the Dole California Cook Off, for a chance to travel to California and compete at The Grove. There is a contest to submit a recipe for a possible $10,000 prize, with two runners up prizes of $1000! There is also a sweepstakes to enter – a chance to travel to LA and judge the contest!
I’ll be here, sitting in the sunshine, stuffing rosemary into dates. See my recipe here.
Compensation was provided by Dole via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of spabettie and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Dole.
{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow nice weather for you guys huh? That’s awesome. And I thought I grilled everything – never thought to grill dates!
oh, and it has continued – today was 88+ and gorgeous! tomorrow and Monday, more of the same – weee! hope your weekend is going well, happy (dog!) mothers day!
Such a cool idea! I wish I had a grill – it adds such a great depth of flavor!
it does – I love that flavor too! so happy it’s grilling season. I wish you had a grill too – or were my neighbor…
I’ll have to share this with my mom, she loves anything with dates in it!
I hope she likes these, Jenn! thanks for sharing!
I LOVE dates! How funny, i just had them in Atlanta as part of a tapas plate, and then I bought them for my oatmeal today and then you blog about dates! Great minds
must make these!
great minds, indeed. please make them! you will LOVE. were the tapas dates grilled? I have seen that a lot with tapas – usually bacon wrapped!
Grilled dates? You certainly do love to grill, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that being done before! Awesomely creative.
we have this awesome grill pan, so I’ve been known to throw some crazy things on the grill… you’ll see, it’s grilling season
you could easily skewer them, though, the rosemary stays in pretty well! 
Oh my goodness, I am so out the loop right now. I’ve missed you! I love the flavor combination. My parents backyard has a huge hill covered in rosemary. It’s one of my favorite things about their house. Too bad they live 600 miles away or I’d be over there everyday cutting some!
rosemary is one of my favorites (now that we are in a bigger place, we are getting a SECOND DACHSHUND!! …and we are going to name her Rosemary…)
I know the out of the loop feeling, I’m so busy lately I haven’t had much time for internet – I miss you too! hope you are doing great!
and wow, I want a whole hill of rosemary!
A second dachshund named Rosemary!? That’s adorable! Basil and Rosemary. Awwwww!
Keeping up with all the amazing blogs, bloggers, friends…there’s never enough time. C’est la vie!
yes, Krista I am singing the same tune lately – never enough time.
I want to get settled and unpacked here, make sure Basil is happy and “home”… then we’ll go find his sister!
Wow, super creative and what a great flavor pairing!
I hope you win the Dole contest!
thanks, Averie!
so happy you are back!! so happy you are happy, well deserved. I want you to win this so you all can come visit me, I need to give you the biggest hug and I need to drink good beer with your man. XO
sounds great to me! XO
Well…I wasn’t craving sweets before but sadly I can’t say the same is true after reading this! YUMMY
and dates are the perfect kind of sweet, right?
I love these Kris, they’re so you! The thought of a grilled date is amazing enough on its own, stick some rosemary in there and well, I would love to try that! I hope you win the contest, I entered for a chance to judge!
oh, good, maybe you’ll be a judge! you should enter too, though, with all of your amazing creations you could enter a few of them!
Haha, when the grill is set up, then you have moved in!
I love the rosemary idea! Unexpected flavors are a great thing. I always wanted to make apricot thyme muffins, let’s see whether I’ll get around that soon!
haa, yep, you got it, Kath!
some of the first things to get set up in our new place – my camera equipment, basic kitchen essentials, Jason’s drum kit and music equipment, and the grill! 
apricot thyme – oh yes! apricots are another fruit that pairs well with herbs, please make a muffin so I can make it too!
XXO hope you are well, dear friend – I know things should settle down soon, I look forward to catching up!
grilling dates? wow, i love that! especially with rosemary! i need to come visit again so we can grill and chat and hug!
oh Linds I wish you were here – we are grilling again tomorrow and I’m throwing some of these on… I could use a Lindsay Hug right now, and so could Basil! XXO love you, friend, hope you are WELL
So creative! What a fabulous combination of flavors. I’m in love
and seriously can’t wait to get out my grill now!
thanks, Cara – and yes, please make these as soon as you can.
we are loving the grilled rosemary dates as is, and are making them again tomorrow! 
Yum! These look fantastic! Good luck in the contest!!
thanks, Shawn! even if they don’t win, the contest did inspire them, and they’re our new favorite!
I’ve never thought to grill dates – what a terrific idea! I love the combination of sweetness with herbs – yum!
oh Ashley you need to try it – they are so good grilled, and the rosemary is a nice added flavor… we are making more tomorrow, I can’t wait!
You BETTER win because then you will be SO close to me and then I could watch you at the Grove and jump up and down with a homemade sign and scream “Go Kris! You freaking rule!” while everyone looks at me strangely but I wouldn’t care because I would have my spabettie in person and that would make me soooooooooo happy *gasping for air*
ha, that would be awesome indeed. all of it. pure awesome. could Basil come too, and sit with you in the audience? hmm, actually, you’ll probably be up there competing, and I can be a judge! (you can enter two ways, to compete or to judge!!) weeee! XXO
Good luck, Kristina! The idea of pairing dates and rosemary is simply brilliant and the cookies are gorgeous.
thanks, Carrie – we are loving the grilled rosemary dates, we are making more tomorrow! turning them into bars was simply a delicious afterthought…
Spinningly brilliant! When will we see a cookbook?
thank you! hmmm – perhaps one day. It was a thought many years ago, before this website.
GRILLED DATES WITH ROSEMARY????????????? YUM!!! (yes, I’m shouting!
) Good luck with the recipe, I’m routing for you!!!!!!! Basil told me to tell you “happy mom’s day” from him to you. OMG…when did I become one of those people who “speak” for animals????? sigh. I’ve lost it. 
SOunds lkike a perfect snack.
this looks amazing – i dont think i can purchase tempeh anywhere i never looked so ill have to look around .. !!!