Nourish the
Body • Mind • Spirit

Experiments in the kitchen

I am feeling particularly creative this week – so I unleashed some of that creativity in the kitchen.

It started with the bananas. There were three and they were just on the cusp between being usable and being compost. So just before they reached the tipping point, I put them in a bowl and mashed them. They were very ripe and therefore very sweet … so I thought, I don’t really need any sugar. I added a cup of almond butter – you know the kind that is just almonds. This one was the crunchy variety. And I added an egg. For those of you who choose not to eat eggs or who are allergic to eggs, there’s a great website for egg substitutes. I’ll put it at the bottom of the recipe.

OK – so here I was with the the basis of flourless cookies – nut butter, sugar, egg … except the “sugar” was bananas and they are quite wet. So, I decided they would need a rising agent and I added 1 tsp baking soda. And when I use baking soda I always add vanilla (I like to use really good vanilla – like Madagascar) and a little sea salt … and finally the pièce de résistance – Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips – a whole 250 g bag.

It was evident that this concoction was not going to be cookies – so I stirred in 1 cup of almond meal, lined a loaf pan with parchment and poured in the mixture and baked it for 1 hr at 350 degrees F

Viola

I served it right out of the oven to my husband who said it was like molten chocolate lava cake. It is NOT sweet, but it is rich and pretty yummy.

It’s good cold too. But if you are thinking traditional banana bread – it isn’t. I will definitely make it again.

Alpha Vitality’s Flourless Chocolate Banana Bread

Mix together:

• 3 very ripe large bananas, mashed
• 1 cup crunchy almond butter

Mix next 3 ingredients and then add to banana, nut butter mixture

• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp ground sea salt

Add

• 1 large egg beaten (or substitute 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds OR chia seeds plus 3 Tbsp water – let them form a gel before adding to mixture. )
• 1 tsp vanilla

Stir until just mixed

Add to parchment lined loaf pan

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr (start checking it at 50 minutes)

ENJOY

http://foodallergies.about.com/od/recipes/tp/half_dozen_egg_subs.htm

This week I also decided that I’d like to buy a juicer.

Here’s a great idea – if you have a friend who has a juicer, ask them to let you try it either at their place or yours. It’s a big investment, so it’s nice to try before you buy.

My friend Kim brought hers over last night. I believe it is a masticating juicer. It really squeezes out all the nutrients in the juice and leaves a dry pulp. It was easy to set up (and more importantly to me, easy to clean up)

And surprisingly – it was very quiet.

I had celery, baby spinach, cucumber and a ripe pear on hand – so we cut those up and put them in the juicer.

The end product was pretty sweet but delish. Kim also suggested adding a lemon and ginger to the mix. Next time!

If you are one of my clients, you know I’m not a fruit juice fan – I’d much rather you eat the fruit and get the fibre.

But, I am ok with you treating a mostly vegetable juice as supplementary to your diet. It can help boost your daily vegetable quota. And if you already eat well, it can be a great way to increase your nutrient intake.

A good rule of thumb is 3 parts veggies to 1 part fruit – we don’t want to shoot up our blood sugar, but we do want the juice to enjoyable.

Let me know if you try either of my experiments!