ashleyd /

Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

This weekend in London I had one request for Charlie before our time together came to an end.

“I want to cook and bake together!”

Charlie has the opportunity to spend most days in a kitchen, whether at work or home. I hoped that her passion and confidence in the kitchen would wear off on me after a few hours together. Luckily not only did her confidence rub off on me but I had a blast spending time in her kitchen laughing, learning and making both dinner and dessert together.

IMG_6887IMG_6868She will be sharing our dinner recipes over on her blog along with some great tips and tricks but tonight I have the pleasure of sharing this recipe – delicious, healthy banana bread! Deciding what we would bake was far easier than Charlie ever expected. I’ve read her blog for months now and have fallen in love with her recipes, many of which have included either bananas or berries. No smell in the world reminds me more of home and my mom than banana bread. We used to buy multiple bunches of bananas just so we always had brown ones ready for the loaf pan.

IMG_6866IMG_6870There are a few ingredients in this healthier version that my mom’s version never included:

  • 3 super ripe bananas- Always bake banana bread with extra ripe bananas. The riper the banana, the more sweet the bread!
  • Agave – A great alternative sweetener, agave is lower in glycemic index and is less refined than sugar.  We only needed to use a small amount in the recipe due to the bananas’ sweetness.
  • Spelt flour – Spelt is a whole grain so it is a great alternative to all purpose flour. While we didn’t fully substitute the all purpose flour for spelt we were able to make the recipe healthier by going half and half. 
  • Greek style yogurt – Yogurt provides added protein and serves as a healthy fat so you can use less oil.
  • Blueberries – Fresh and perfectly in season the berries added a hint of tartness to the bread and gave it a new tastes. It’s also a perfect way to use berries when you buy one too many pints on sale at the market!

The finished loaf was so moist and dense that we were able to cut 12 wonderful slices, perfect to enjoy anytime! I had a slice with coffee on my flight from London to Geneva Monday morning and both Charlie and I have both loved snacking on the fresh banana bread with a cup of tea at work.

healthier blueberry banana bread

Blueberry Banana Bread

Ingredients:  (yields one loaf)

  • 2/3 cups spelt flour
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 large ripe bananas
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3-4 tablespoons agave
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine flours, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork until they are fully mashed together. Add oil, agave, vanilla, eggs, and yogurt to the banana mixture and whisk well, until no lumps. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl, folding until thoroughly combined. Fold blueberries into batter gently. Pour batter into a greased or lined loaf pan.  Bake in the oven for one hour or until a toothpick passes the test, aka comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before removing from pan and slicing. Cut individual slices for perfect pre-portioned breakfast or office snacks!

IMG_6905IMG_6932What’s your favorite baked good memory from growing up? Mine is definitely my mom’s banana bread!

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

Truffled Twice-Baked Potatoes

This weekend was exactly what we both needed. Due to my parent’s cancelled flight we ended up spending a relaxing weekend exploring Geneva, relaxing on the couch with two wonderful movies (The Intouchables and In A World), running, and cooking. Tonight’s dinner was inspired by my father as he requested a traditional steakhouse dinner for his birthday celebration which was supposed to take place tonight in Geneva. Our grocery shopping for the dinner was already completed when we heard about their first of four cancelled flights. Never ones to let food go bad, Bo and I took time to create our own variation of a steak house dinner tonight including a bottle of 2005 Bordeaux wine, a t-bone steak which will keep me fed all week due to it’s massive size and a new potato creation, truffled twice-baked potatoes.

Truffled Twice-Baked Potatoes

I’d never admit it to Bo or the meat man but the potatoes were my favorite part of dinner tonight. Take my advice and make this recipe sooner versus later. Don’t let it get lost in the hundreds of other recipes you pin on Pinterest. Pin it, add the ingredients to this week’s shopping list, open a bottle of wine, and make it for dinner this week whether for just yourself or a crowd. The recipe is easy to double or triple and takes just a few minutes of hands on preparation time.

Ingredients

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon butter

1 russet potato

5 chives, minced

2 tablespoons 2% Fage Yogurt

1.5 tablespoons truffle butter

salt & pepper

1/8 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425.

Scrub the potatoes under running water. Dry well and then pierce the potato multiple times with a fork.

Place directly on the middle or top rack of the oven for one hour and fifteen minutes, or until cooked through.

Sautee the finely chopped onion in a frying pan with a teaspoon of butter until softened.

Remove from heat and place in a dish for later.

Remove from the oven and cut in half, lengthwise.

Use a spoon to scoop the insides out into a bowl.

Combine potato insides with truffle butter, onions, chives, Fage, salt & pepper in the bowl. Mix well.

Once mixed well spoon the mixture back into the two potato skins. Top with grated Gruyere cheese.

Place back in oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and start to form a light crust.

ENJOY!

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

Shrimp and Kale Low Country Soup Recipe

I hope you and yours have had a wonderful weekend thus far. I’m finally starting to feel a little bit better though I’m far from 100%. This morning after sleeping for twelve hours, my mom and I found ourselves in the kitchen staring into an over packed refrigerator. The past few nights we’ve returned home with leftovers from each meal. Without time to catch up on any of this food we risked having a lot of it go bad today. A girl who loves her seafood, I decided to salvage the Low Country Boil leftovers first!

On the 26th my brother Ryan, hosted everyone at his home for an oyster roast and Low Country Boil. This was a new tradition for our family but hopefully one that will continue for years to follow as everyone had a blast laughing around the fire while shucking oysters and sipping cold beers. 104 100 101 I looked at the two containers of shrimp, potatoes and sausage trying to figure out what I could make when my mom suggested I try my hand at a soup. She figured that with half our family feeling under the weather it would be the perfect dinner. I always love a challenge so I quickly searched our refrigerator and pantry for ingredients before grabbing the cookbook and getting to work. I decided to start the soup with a French mirepoix base to give it flavor before layering in the additional ingredients. A French mirepoix is a trio of aromatic vegetables – onions, carrots and celery, sautéed or used raw as the flavor base for many soups.

This soup is a healthy yet hearty combination of proteins and vegetables that result in a “stick to your bones” soup that is bursting with shrimp flavor.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did this evening! It is the perfect way to use some leftovers in your refrigerator this winter.

Shrimp and Kale Low Country SoupShrimp and Kale Low Country Soup Recipe

Serves: 4  – Preparation Time: 15 minutes -  Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

-2 Tbsp Olive Oil

-1/2 cup chopped carrots

-1/2 cup chopped celery

-1 cup chopped onions (sweet onions preferred)

-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock depending on flavor preference

-1 Bay Leaf

-1 tablespoon parsley

-1 teaspoon Garlic Gold or other preferred seasoning

-2 cups chopped kale

-1 pound of cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp

-1 cooked Kielbasa sausage cut into bit size pieces (can use any type of sausage)

– 5 small new potatoes, cooked and quartered

-1 15 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed

-1/4 cup heavy cream, half and half,  fat free half and half, or milk

130 Directions

1. Combine carrots, celery, onions and olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low once the onions begin to brown and the vegetables soften.

2. Pour broth and kale over the softened vegetables and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to a low simmer and stir in herbs before simmering for 15 minutes while partially covered.

4. Stir in sausage, shrimp, potatoes and drained white beans before simmering for 5 more minutes. Taste for flavor and add any additional seasonings.

5. Stir in cream and allow to simmer on low for 5 final minutes before removing from heat. Serve while warm and garnish with either a drizzle of sherry wine or a few sprigs of kale for added color.

6. Enjoy!

136

Share Button
Follow: