Flourless Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Instagram inspires me so much. I think that it's so nice to have a place where you can follow people that are doing very different things all around the world. Or even people that are interested in the same subject as you are.

This week I got so inspired by Garden In The Kitchen. Not only the author, Silvia, is a Brazilian living in the USA just like me, but she's so inspiring. What I really like about her is that she does wholesome recipes and very nutritional ones, but also very flavorful. 

When I saw this double chocolate banana bread on her feed I knew that I had to try it. Since I had scheduled a tea time with one of my best friends that was the perfect opportunity. But my friend can't have gluten, so I had to do a few changes. And that's what I like - we can totally get inspired by something and not follow that through exactly how it is. I love that we can change recipes and create another one just by getting inspired.

Just like Silvia's recipe mine use only a blender. Luck for me I have a very potent one. If this is not your case, don't worry. You can blend the soft ingredients on the blender and then mix it in a bowl with the dry ones. Easy peasy. If you are looking for a vegan option, go for Silvia's, mine takes egg - since I had to found a solution for the oats in hers, I used almond flour. Also she used almond butter and I am pretty sure I didn't even need the peanut butter for mine since I used the eggs - probably you can add an extra egg if you don't want or don't have peanut butter around. 

FLOURLESS DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups almond flour
• 4 small ripe bananas (or 2 large)
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• ¼ cup peanut butter
• Pinch of salt and cinnamon to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre heat the oven at 350F (180º C). Grease a loaf pan with canola oil or place a parchment paper. On the blender mix all the ingredients, except the chocolate chips. You can also start by mixing the bananas, maple syrup, eggs and peanut butter and then add this mix to the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Place the batter in the pan and bring to the oven for 50 minutes or until you place a toothpick in the center of it and it comes clean. 

Enjoy!

Falling for Pumpkins (and Squashes)

When I moved to USA I was shocked when the fall season arrived. Everything was pumpkin. Pumpkin everywhere. I couldn't understand the pumpkin obsession. I hated pumpkins and squashes. In my country we have a few types of the vegetable and some very traditional recipes using it, but to be honest I never had them. The few times that I had squash at home I hated it.

I've been thinking about all the things that I (used to) hate about food. Gladly I've been changing it gradually. When I was a kid my mom tried to feed me sometimes with healthy food, and I used to hated it with all my body. I don't blame her. When she was a kid she didn't have access to sweet treats, frozen meals or fast food - everything was too expansive or it wasn't created yet. 

Growing up in the 90's made me a kid that loved instant ramen, hot dogs, French fries, all kinds of fast food, cookies from packages and potato chips. Plus all the soda I could have. My mom knew how to cook and even tough she didn't like this chore sometimes she was very creative about it. But most of the times she was pretty basic. Until we had internet. I have memories of her printing recipes to do for Sunday lunch. Back in the time healthiness wasn't a concern for the world - no tips of how to hide vegetables into delicious recipes. Times have changed! 

Last year I decided to buy a pumpkin and do something with it. I went to Union Square Farmer's Market and bought a Kabocha. I almost lost some fingers trying to open it. And it was SO big! I did a soup full of bacon - you can't go wrong with plenty of bacon, right? Also I added a very generous amount of liquid smoke. I really like the smokey taste.

Unfortunately I had to throw a lot of squash away since it was on my fridge so for long and I wasn't so sure about the taste of it. But now the good part: I am more conscious about my shopping habits and I didn't;t buy a big squash. This year I started with the Delicata squash. I bought, had no idea of what to do with it until a good friend gave me this very easy t do idea: roast it until very tender and do a spinach and blue cheese cream to put on top. I had some leftovers smoked sausages from another meal and added them on it as well. Check the final result here and follow me on Instagram!

I really liked the flavor of this squash so I decided to buy it again. And today I felt it was the day. Nothing much again. Just roasted with olive oil and salt and pureed. See the dish here.

But the reason I am doing this post is because I wanted to share my #zerowaste tip for the squash. I think roasted pumpkin seeds are not a surprise. I never did at home and today I took my chances. I did my homework and found this recipe. A-MA-ZING!

Here are some pictures of the recipe process. Guys, you should TOTALLY do this at home!

Delicata squash roasted seeds: yummyness!

1: Soak the seeds in water and rub them a bit to remove squash.

2: Separate clean seeds in another bowl.

3: Place seeds in a large pan with cold water. Bring it to simmer for a few minutes. Rinse and repeat if necessary (until all the squash if off the seed).

4: Place seeds in a tray with parchmeant paper and spray a little olive oil and salt.

5: Roast in the oven at 325F (160˚ celsius) for about 10 minutes or until golden.

6: Enjoy the seeds! 

Eat Your Veggies

I think everybody grew up listening this catch: "eat your veggies, dear". Our moms (and dads!) used to try to make us eat this health food, and sometimes they failed miserably. I've been thinking about this specially because I know I was a terrible kid - super picky about my food. I wanted hot dogs and French fries all the time. Worse: I wanted chocolate sandwich cookies, Coke and chips for life. I could live on this for many days, for sure.

I have this memory of my mom doesn't letting me get off the table until I finished my green beans. Of course that nowadays I just hate it. But I must admit that I haven't tried this yet. I am 28yo and still afraid of some vegetables. In the same time I have to congratulate myself because since I started cooking for real my eating habits has changed a lot. In the past years I've added much more vegetables to my diet and I am trying to embrace everything, to try everything more than once to see if I really like something.

That's the secret: try it. More than once. Cook things using different methods and seasonings. Try a new recipe using that ingredient that you don't like so much. Start by doing it with things that you love, like bacon or cheese. 

A few years ago I tried to eat broccoli. I know that for some people this green vegetable isn't appealing at all. I used to see it on cooking shows and fell disgusted by it. Many years ago I did a recipe with vegetable meat (soy) and broccoli, and my boyfriend hated it - he only told me this years later. Poor thing. Today I know that I can do an awesome broccoli.

My favorite way to do it? Roasted! Like most vegetables Roasting is my favorite cooking method for sure. It's so democratic - almost everything turns up good when roasted. I think thats because this method brings the best of the ingredient. When you do this right, it can bring the most moist, succulent, smokey flavor. Also you can play with the seasoning: change as you like it. 

For this broccoli I used:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 broccoli bouquet
• 1/3 cup olive oil 
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• dried oregano (to taste)
• red chilli flakes (to taste)
• 1/4 lime juice
• 3 garlic cloves

HOW TO DO IT

First I washed the broccoli florets. In a bowl mixed all the ingredients and then placed the florets. Let it marinade for about 5 minutes. Pre-heated the oven at 350 F (180º C). In a sheet pan did put some parchment paper and sprayed olive oil. Then I placed the florets. I poured the rest of the marinade on the broccoli because I didn't want to waste that amazing flavor. I placed the sheet pan on the oven for 15 minutes. And that was pretty much it. Almost zero work for a delicious broccoli.

Here are a few suggestions of marinades for you to try and also some vegetables suggestions:

MARINADES

• lime + garlic + olive oil
• orange + Sriracha + olive oil
• teriyaki sauce + sesame oil + rice vinegar
• balsamic + garlic + dried oregano + olive oil
• ginger + lime + olive oil
• taco seasoning + lime + olive oil
• garlic + hazelnut oil + rosemary

VEGETABLES TO TRY

• zucchini
• tomatoes
• peppers
• potatoes
• radishes
• asparagus
• green beans (I'll try it, I promise)
• artichokes 
• squashes
• onions
• brussels sprouts
• cauliflower 
• okra
• etc...

Think about a vegetable that you don't like, then try it at home! Season it, put in the oven and try! If you don't like this way, try another. And if after a few attempts you didn't like either way, that's ok. At least you tried. To finish, here's my dish for the day: white rice, a simple salad (green leaf lettuce, onion and radishes seasoned with lime, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil), grilled flounder and the roasted broccoli :)

Working the creativity - Spinach Risotto

This week my husband gave me a challenge: to work with what I got in the fridge and not do any grocery shopping. Of course this has a purpose: save money.

What I Ate Today: Spinach Risotto with Italian Sausage and Green Bell Pepper

Whenever he asks me this I feel scared. A lot of questions pop up on my head: will I be able to do breakfast and dinner everyday without going to the deli? There's not enough of this or that, what should I do?

This is where the creativity comer along to help me. Sometimes I just open my fridge and say: "surprise me today". Sometimes I spend my whole day thinking about what I am going to cook for us. I even go to bed thinking about breakfast and dinner. 

Yesterday after coming back from a session of the documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste at the Tribeca Film Festival, I was determined to work with what I had and be creative. I had no meal planning for this, so imagination had no limits for me.  I knew that I had some Italian sausages on the fridge. Two, to be precisely. Two is enough for two people, right? It depends, ok? So, I know that sausages, specially the Italian types, goes well with peppers. And yes, I had one green bell pepper (half of it) hanging on my fridge drawer, just waiting. I also had garlic (always!), onion and white whine. That's it. If you have just plain white rice, you already have dinner at this point. 

But I wanted risotto. I was craving it. Maybe because of the rainy day... I wanted something comfortable. Not pasta this time. Risotto. I had some cheese: a bit of fresh mozzarella, blue cheese, cheddar and this smoked gouda. I had good choices, except the cheddar, this would be a bold move for sure and a risk I wasn't willing to take. I went with the smoked one. Last but not least, I decided to add spinach to the risotto - I had some and didn't want to waste the opportunity of adding some nutritional on my meal. 

Turns out that I didn't think about my wine quantity and ended up putting everything on the sausage. By the time that I was doing the risotto, I asked my self what I was going to do? I didn't want to put lime, because I know the risotto would taste like it, even with the other layers of flavor. So thinking about the acidity, I grabbed my apple vinegar. It worked amazingly. Just like wine, to be honest. 

Tip: to make the pepper sweeter and tender I did let it sit on the fire on my stovetop for a few minutes. Better than stir it for a bunch of time.

And on the top of everything: garlic confit. I did this yesterday morning and wanted to try. So everything was actually a good excuse to put my new garlic confit on top. I know that everything was good because after two spoons my husband said: "I wish I could eat three times this". 

Restrictions are good - if you look at it in a different way

I have met people that has gluten and lactose intolerance, for real. They do not follow this diets because they want to lose weight or just trying to see how their bodies reacts by being without those substances.

Today I had a friend that follows this FODmap diet, that I have never heard about before. I was curious about this. She can't have things like onion and garlic. Basically my main ingredients for every dish. I was really intrigued by this and invited her to come anyway. I had to try. I was afraid, of course, that the food would be flavorless. I read blogs, saw lists, checked every ingredient, shared the menu with her... But at the end it was worth it.

I decided to do ribs and mashed potatoes. Actually for the mashed potatoes I wanted this different texture, more similar to aligot - mashed potatoes with cheese. But with no cheese. I know, I am stubborn.

I was pretty happy with the results. She seemed pretty happy with it as well. All I had to do was using the food processor and add ghee for the velvety texture. For the ribs I used the pressure cooker. Made a paste with cherry tomatoes and spring onion (just the green part), add bacon fat, turmeric, bay leaves, baby spinach, cumin, smoked salt, worcestershire sauce, dried oregano and arrowroot in the end to thicken it.

Here is the thing: I thought that the food tasted delicious. And also tasted like real food. I mean, I actually could taste the meat. Once a friend told me that he doesn't season the meat with garlic because he thinks is tastes too garlicky. And now I can see why.

Yes, it's possible to not add onion and garlic and play with other ingredients. But still onion and garlic are very convenient, and delicious!

Now I feel so blessed that I don't have any food allergies. I can have everything and also feel so bad for the past me - the peaky eater one. I am so open for the new flavors, even from things that I know that I don't like - beets I am talking to you!