As I type one-handed munching on a delicious peanut butter and banana sandwich, I must wonder what food doesn’t benefit from adding a banana or two.
Ice cream? Chop a banana and nuts over that bad boy. Or, make the banana the main ingredient in this recipe. I like to take a waffle cone and spread peanut butter on the inside before taking a generous scoop of banana ice cream and then drizzling with honey. What about bread? Um, banana chocolate chip bread, anyone? And then there’s the ever-popular banana pancakes that Jack Johnson is always singing about.
There isn’t any reason to not like this fruit. One medium banana will set you back about 100 calories and provide you with a modest array of essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein). Bananas are a good source of riboflavin and folic acid, and an excellent source of vitamins A and B6. Everyone knows bananas contain a ton of potassium, but most people don’t know they’re also a great source of copper, manganese, and magnesium.
Bananas work well as egg substitutes, too. Most baking projects can handle a half banana for every egg called for in the recipe. Why? Think about the stickiness of bananas. Since eggs are used to hold the ingredients together, it makes sense that all the sugary goodness and fiber in bananas could do the same job. Of course, if you don’t want your pumpkin torte to taste faintly of fruit (oops), you should steer clear of bananas or fruit pectin as replacements for eggs and gelatin. But that’s another story.
Since I’ve been gone so long, I have a bigger list of food than usual… Here are Days 22 – 42.
What are some of your favorite banana-tastic recipes?