I know, I know, “banana?” you’re thinking. “Everyone knows what a banana is.” Yes, yes they do. But do non-vegans know the surprising culinary ways you can use a banana (aside from banana bread and ya know, just eating one :) )? Unlikely.
One-ingredient ice cream – creamy and delicious. Really! Photo courtesy of creative commons.
Not only are bananas a great source of potassium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and manganese, they also serve as an easy substitution for some of those basic ingredients you probably grew up using in an omnivore kitchen. Having a few bananas around can always be useful (even just to use as a snack – banana with peanut butter? YUM.). Little known fact – many people know you can use applesauce to replace oil in many baking recipes, but did you know you can bananas to replace eggs? Mash up or puree about 1/2 of a banana and you have the perfect substitute for one egg, depending on the recipe. Bananas add that nice moisture of eggs, so they are best used as a substitute in recipes like brownies, where they don’t need to help make the batter rise.
I also recommend keeping a few frozen in the freezer. I always have a few on hand to throw into a green smoothie, a post-workout recovery smoothie, or really… any kind of smoothie I feel like making. But the best, secret-est (is this a word?) use of frozen bananas follows below – one-ingredient ice cream!
Before I get to the recipe, one quick bonus – a friend of mine wrote a song about the crazy history of the banana, which I highly recommend checking out because it rocks (seriously):
Recipe:
It’s hard to call this one a recipe, with one single ingredient! But here goes. Freeze bananas in chunks for best results. Then add to a food processor and whiz until smooth. You will end up with delicious, *creamy*, ice cream. I didn’t believe it myself until I tried it, but it really works! The best is then experimenting and seeing what other flavors you can come up with – adding a little peanut butter, a little cocoa powder, maybe a little cinnamon… try it out and let me know what combinations you love!
