Delicious and Moist Low Fat Banana Bread

I'm sure the cute furry little squirrel in the above photo would LOVE this bread! I took his portrait last week when he was running around begging for bread on campus; it is available in my etsy store!

As usual, the amounts aren't exact. But as long as your batter is the consistency of a regular batter-type bread (ie pumpkin bread batter, etc), it should be fine! I'll note what amounts I used, but you can substitute flours, nuts, sweeteners, etc.

This banana bread is unusually moist (I hate dry banana bread!!), and falls apart a little when you eat it! It is so delicious it doesn't need any spreads. It is heart-healthy (esp if you add the grains and whole wheat flour, and flax seed!) and has no refined sugar.

When I make batter breads, I mix everything together and add the baking soda last.

3 very brown/black bananas, mashed
1/4 C oat bran
1/4 C wheat germ (I wanted to use ground flax seeds but we were out!)
about 3/4 C flour (I used white, but wheat would be good too!)
1 whole egg
1 egg white (I think 2 egg whites, or 2 eggs-worth of fake egg substitute would work too)
1 tsp salt
1/4 C apple butter (the type with no sugar added)
about 1/4 C apple sauce (I ran out of apple butter or would have used 1/2 C apple butter!)
1/8 to 1/4 C honey
1 Tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 C nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc)

Fold everything together without stirring too much - will be heavy if you over-mix. Fold until just blended.

Bake at 350deg F for about 40-45 mins; it's ok if it gets a little brown as it's very very moist and won't get dry by staying in the oven for a minute or two longer!

makes 1 loaf. I use silicone baking things to avoid having to grease them, but you might want to grease/flour a regular loaf pan if using, or line with waxed paper. Also, you can add everything but the eggs and baking soda, and taste to see if it's sweet enough! Then add the eggs & soda once it's at the level of sweetness you prefer.

If anybody tries this out, let me know what you think! :)

Tempeh Thoughts

Here's a quick and easy recipe for tempeh! If you're not familiar with tempeh, it is a patty-like fermented pressed soy cake/block; there is a multi grain version as well (I like that one best). The texture is sort of similar to a really firm but crumble-able veggie burger, and the flavor is very plain when cooked by itself.

My favorite way to prepare it takes maybe 15 minutes tops, and is quite easy and delicious! Goes well with rice, salad, in a pita, in a wrap, or it's great eaten as is! The overall flavor of this recipe is red wine vinegary and salty. My parents and I love tempeh made this way, but my husband cannot stand the taste of tempeh cooked in any manner.

As with all my recipes, I rarely measure, so these are approximates. And of course you can leave things out and subsitute, etc.! I never make it exactly the same way twice. You could even do something really fun and add stewed tomatoes to this! Or crumble it up and add to spaghetti!

Cube the tempeh into 1/2" squares (I use half a package of the 3-grain tempeh).

For marinade - whisk together:

1/4 C red wine vinegar

a dash of shoyu sauce (or soy sauce if you don't have shoyu, but the latter is REALLY worth having around - it's much richer and flavorful, and not as sugary-tasting)

a tsp or two of sesame oil

a tsp or two of olive oil (or leave out for low fat version)

a few slices of fresh garlic

some pieces of chiles de arbol, or dried chipotle pepper powder - these have a nice rich flavor

dash (few drops) of ume plum vinegar (this has a lovely salty fruity flavor!)

**If you don't have all these ingredients, just the red wine vinegar, an oil and some garlic would be just fine!**

Marinate for 10 minutes in the pan you're going to cook in. Turn up the heat and cook until the marinade has evaporated! YUM! Let me know what you think :)