We’re in the middle of a heatwave, and you’d be forgiven for thinking I had lost the plot as it may sound like a weird combination, but honestly you have to try it before you judge. I also think the secret is the perfect pairing is with the use of Alpro Soya Vanilla drink. Completely unendorsed, I fell in love with this product many moons ago whilst at university studying for my undergraduate nutrition degree and stumbled upon this. The combination of flavours which worked so well it became my signature drink of choice. Perfect as both breakfast on the go, or as a mid-morning snack along side a coffee pick me up when packaged away in a thermos flask to keep it nicely chilled.
It’s the perfect smoothie for a heatwave where you would love a coffee but don’t want a hot drink. Also great for preventing any banana wastage as once they start turning spotty brown simply peel and freeze in chunks ready to make this drink.
Each serving provides you with:
1 of you 5 a day
35% of your daily calcium requirements
18% of your potassium requirements
Source of fluids for hydration
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 banana, frozen overnight
50ml coffee of choice
200ml Alpro Soya Vanilla drink
Method
Place all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender till smooth.
Pour into a glass, or into a thermos flask to save for later.
The easiest (and quickest) way to use up some brown Fairtrade bananas from the bottom of your fruit bowl. These little cakes make the perfect pudding in a hurry. There’s also no added sugar thanks to the natural sweetness of the extra ripe bananas, and the addition of a date.
Each cake provides you with 4 different plant points for your weekly tally. If you can resist eating it straight out of the ramekin (be careful as it’s super hot!!) you can turn it out onto a plate and serve it with your choice of toppings. It’s the perfect brunch served with plain yoghurt and berries, but you could always opt for something more indulgent such as custard or ice cream if eating it for dessert.
Sourcing both Fairtrade bananas and cocoa means that those working in the food chain will get a fair wage; from the farmers who grow the produce, to those who process it into the final product so they can have a better standard of living. Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 runs from 22nd February to 7th March. Look out for the Fairtrade logo on popular items such as bananas, chocolate, coffee, tea, flowers and clothing.
Serves 2
Ingredients
60g butter
2 very ripe Fairtrade bananas (total weight 175-200g)
1 egg
1 Medjool date, finely chopped or 20g chopped dates
60g self-raising flour
15g Fairtrade cocoa powder
To serve (optional)
Yoghurt
Defrosted frozen berries
Method
Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds till very soft. Add the bananas and mash into a lumpy paste.
Mix in the egg and chopped date.
Add the flour and cocoa powder and mix till just combined.
Pour into 2 large ramekins. Cook each cake for 90-100 seconds in the microwave (900 W) till puffed up and cooked. If you still have raw batter keep microwaving 10 seconds at a time till cooked.
Leave to cool for 30 seconds before turning out onto a plate and serving with yoghurt and berries.
Per serving: 499kcal/ 29.1g fat/ 18.0g saturated fat/ 31.9g carbohydrates/ 6.3g fibre/ 9.2g protein
This is a super easy way of making the most of your brown bananas without having to make banana bread! Such an easy recipe it takes just 5 minutes. The hardest part is waiting for the ice pops to freeze, so making them the night before is the best way of killing the time.
This is also the perfect recipe to use the strawberry hulls in an attempt to waste less food whilst also increasing your fibre diversity intake. Simply remove the stem from the strawberries ready to blend!
For those who don’t have ice lolly moulds, you can freeze the bananas and strawberries, and then simply blend with the yoghurt to make smoothie bowls instead. It’s another fantastic way of keeping cool during the hot summer days.
Makes 6 100ml pops
Ingredients
2 very ripe bananas
~150g strawberries (you can choose to leave the strawberry hulls on)
300g yoghurt of choice (I have used plain live dairy yoghurt)
Method
Weight the bananas into a large jug and top the weight up to 300g with strawberries.
Add 250g yoghurt and blend till smooth.
Add the remaining 50g yoghurt and lightly swirl in. Pour into your moulds and freeze according to the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Per 100g smoothie pop: 42kcal/ 0.7g fat/ 0.5g saturated fat/ 2.8g carbohydrates/ 1.0g fibre/ 1.2g protein
I love this recipe for using up bananas which are past their sell by date. Somehow, you can never quite have the right number of bananas. It’s either too few or too many. And whenever I have too many I either freeze them ready to make smoothies out of, or turn them into this lovely cake.
This originally was my mum’s recipe, but I’ve added a few twists which my mum has now incorporated herself. She used to use butter, but for speed and nutritional value, I switched it to extra virgin olive oil. At first she protested, then she baked her first loaf using it and was converted immediately, proclaiming how much easier it was in comparison to melting and cooling the butter. The recipe also happens to be so simple, and forgiving! If you don’t have some of the ingredients they’re easy to swap in and out, and you can change the flavour of your bread depending on what you have, or what you fancy. If you want something more fruity, substitute some of the seeds for dried fruits, or even fresh or frozen for a delicious burst of flavour.
I also use two different types of flour to help maximise the diversity of the foods I’m eating each week. Of course I won’t be having this every week, but when I do I’d like to think that I can still be good while being naughty. The same goes for the seeds. I use a wide variety and generally use a premixed packet and then add in whatever I think is missing.
This recipe can easy be multiplied up according to how many bananas you have, but a word of caution. When using a 2lb tin or larger, the centre of the cake can sometime fail to rise due to the density and weight. This banana bread is not light and fluffy like a traditional sponge cake. It is loaded with fibre from seeds and whole grain flours which help increase the nutritional content of this treat. If multiplying up you can try baking in multiple small tins or in individual cupcake cases – just alter the timings so that a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Anything beyond what you want to eat fresh can be frozen – I slice my loaf and freeze it so I can pull out a slice or two depending on how many I need.
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 large ripe banana
80g dairy yoghurt (if using non-dairy add 10g extra fat)
Zest and juice of 1/2 an unwaxed lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or essence
50ml EVOO
1 large egg
60g rye flour
60g spelt flour
20g ground linseeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g caster sugar
40g mixed seeds + extra for sprinkling over the top
Method
Line a 1lb loaf tin and preheat the oven to 150°C fan/ 160°C convection
Mash the banana with the yoghurt, followed by all the remaining wet ingredients.
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Then combine with the wet ingredients and mix till combined.
Pour the mixture into the tin, sprinkle with seeds and bake for 35-40 minutes till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Per serving: 208kcal/ 10.5g fat/ 6.8g saturated fat/ 18.5g carbohydrates/ 3.5g fibre/ 5.5g protein
Dr Pippa 