More Power Walnut, Carob and Banana Bread

I love banana bread! Not only does it taste amazingly good, but it’s also a very efficient way to use up those super ripe bananas that you inevitably end up with week after week. Well, if you’re like me, that is, and buy bananas every week but only eat them when they are a beautiful bright yellow and then completely lose interest in them as soon as they start to develop the tiniest of brown spots… although I have gotten much better and now eat my bananas a lot riper than I used to, because I know they are in fact better for me when they are good and ripe. But still, I must end up throwing at least one, if not two per week in the freezer to use in smoothies or banana bread, mini loaves or muffins.

Up until now, I’ve always used the same recipe, but this week, I decided to play with the Pumpkin, Rasberry and Buckwheat Loaves recipe and to turn it into a More Power Walnut, Carob and Banana Bread.

Basically all I did is replace the pumpkin puree with banana puree. It took 3 bananas to make the required cup and a half.

Of course, I left the cinnamon, ginger and all spice out of the equation. Oh, and I added 100g of carob chips, which ended up being an enormous waste of time, since they all sunk right to the bottom, and I think they also decided to gang up and have a little party right in the middle of the loaf!

I mean, look how sad! All you can see in the picture is a mere dark spot, a lonely chip that got lost or something… I guess when I get more towards the other end of the bread, I will get a mega dose of crazy happy carob chips all bunched up together!

They’re probably having a good laugh right now at this great prank that they pulled on me.

Maybe next time I will use a little bit less milk to make the batter a tad on the firmer side, that way, the carob chips won’t get to sink that much. Still, the loaf has a very good texture as it is, so you can feel free to go ahead and use that exact recipe.

If you are the kind of person who loves their toasts in the morning, this makes for an absolutely gorgeous breakfast. Just cut a couple of slices and pop them in the toaster, then spread some good all natural peanut or almond butter on them.

Of course, this would also make an excellent afternoon snack!

INGREDIENTS
(for one large banana bread)

WET

• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ¾ cup soy milk
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup egg whites
• 1½ cup banana puree
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

DRY

• 120g vanilla flavored whey protein powder
• 1½ cup buckwheat flour
• 1/3 cup black chia seeds
• 2 tsp baking powder

ADD-INS

• 100g carob chips (entirely NOT necessary!)
• 75g walnuts, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425F and line loaf pan with parchment paper
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix wet ingredients together and whisk until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and whisk until well combined. Add wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Fold in carob chips and nuts. Mix to combine, no more.
4. Pour batter into loaf pan. Put them in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 375.
5. Cook for 40-45min until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan then cool completely on a cooling rack.
7. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container for up to a week

Raspberry Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

IT’S THE WEEKEND!!! 😀

Could you think of anything better than pancakes to eat on a lazy weekend morning?

Pancakes, to me, are like the ultimate decadent breakfast food. They are a treat that I used to indulge in only on very rare occasions, because, well, let’s face it, pancakes, as we know them, have absolutely nothing healthy about them. They are, for the most part, made of white flour and most people tend to eat them literally drenched in syrup.

I recently discovered this recipe for pancakes that aren’t just “less bad” or “better for you” than the standard version. Those pancakes are actually SUPER HEALTHY! For real! You could have them every single day of the week if you wanted to!

They are made with, believe it or not, nothing but rolled oats, egg whites and low fat cottage cheese! And the best part is, YES, they are incredibly good! Flavorwise as well as texturewise.

But you don’t have to take my word for it, you can try them for yourself. You’ll see, they are absolutely super easy and quick to prepare!

I’m pretty sure this one will become a favorite of yours, as it has for me!

I used raspberry here, but really, you could use whatever fruit you want… blueberries, strawberries, mango, pineapple, kiwi? why not! Let your imagination run wild, go nuts!

Oh, and ps… if you have some of that raspberry sauce leftover, it goes superbly well with the Pumpkin Raspberry Buckwheat Loaves

Ingredients
(serves 1)

Pancakes

• ½ cup Rolled Oats
• ½ cup 1% Cottage Cheese
• ½ cup Egg Whites
• ¼ tsp Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries

Raspberry Sauce

• ¾ cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

For the raspberry sauce: In a small saucepan, cook raspberries, water, lemon juice, chia seeds and agave nectar over low heat, stirring occasionally, until raspberries “melt” and sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. When sauce is ready, set aside to cool for about 5 minutes and puree in a food processor*.

For the pancakes:  Simply mix all the ingredients, except raspberries, in a food processor* and blend until nice and smooth. Remove the blades and delicately fold in the raspberries.

Coat a non-stick pan with cooking spray and heat it over medium heat. When the pan is hot enought, cook your pancakes one at a time until set and golden, about 1-2 minutes per side. I like to divide my batter into 3 small pancakes, but you may choose to make one large, 2 medium or 3 small pancakes, whatever works for you.

Transfer pancakes to serving plate and garnish with a dollop of plain yogurt and fresh raspberries if desired.

Serve with raspberry sauce.

* A Magic Bullet works wonders for this recipe…

Wheat Berry and Lobster Salad

This is another recipe that was on my Must Try List and that I had been really looking forward to trying. I guess I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to arise. An opportunity such as having some beautiful leftover lobster meat to use it in.

You see, the other night when we had our “summer kick-off” steaks, there was also lobster, but there was no way I could eat mine: it was wayyyyy too much food!!  So I ended up cleaning it and putting it away, knowing EXACTLY what I was going to do with it! I thought it would work perfectly with this salad…

AND I THOUGHT RIGHT!!

This salad was just plain insane. In fact, I think I would buy lobster just to do it again! Of course, I guess, if lobster was  not available, shrimp would probably work fine too, but I am telling you, the chewiness of the lobster matched that of the wheat berries just beautifully! And the flavor combination was also superb.

Heidi’s recipe called for carrots but I decided to use orange bell peppers instead. Same color, different texture and taste. It turned out to be an excellent choice. It too, matched the lobster quite well.

The best thing about this salad is that if you have all the ingredients ready, it really comes together in no time. 10 minutes and you’re done. Sure, wheat berries do take a long time to cook, but the trick is to do them ahead of time, then you’re all set!

I guess the best way to go about it is to cook your wheat berries the previous day. Put them to soak in the morning before you leave for work, then cook them in the evening while you are making supper (they require no attention whatsoever, so they won’t even disrupt your schedule) and leave them in the fridge to cool until the next day (or until you are ready to use them… just don’t wait a month, you know!).

And if you have never tried wheat berries before, this, right here, is the perfect excuse for you to give them a go!

INGREDIENTS
(serves 1)

Salad

• The meat of one lobster, cooked and cooled
• ½ cup wheat berries, cooked and cooled
• ½ orange bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 large stalk of celery, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Dressing

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp za’atar (or dried oregano)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Pinch black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. [The previous day] Soak wheat berries for 8 to 12 hours, then drain, rinse and cook in salted water (at least 4 parts water to 1 part berries) in a pot for an hour to an hour and a half, until chewy but tender and all water is absorbed.  Cool completely before adding to the salad.
2. Chop veggies and lobster meat in small bite sized pieces and mix all together in a medium sized bowl.
3. Mix together dressing and pour over the salad.
4. You can serve this immediately or refrigerate for a half hour to an hour to allow flavors to fully develop.