Out-of-the-Box Ways That You Should be Eating Your Bananas
As a professional chef, I’m always looking for inspiration from distant places to captivate my guests’ attentions. But sometimes, the best inspiration comes from the ubiquitous, everyday items I see in my pantry. Bananas are a great example.
Of course, everyone loves them sliced into fruit salads, blended into smoothies, and mashed into pancake and bread batter, but there is so much more potential locked away in that yellow skin! For example, bananas’ natural sweetness lends itself perfectly to savory applications. Try throwing in large slices of just ripe bananas into Caribbean yellow curry with onions, potatoes, chilies, and green bell peppers.
Bananas also make an incredible base for homemade ketchups and bbq sauces. Crunchy Filipino lumpia just out of the fryer practically necessitates a generous slather of banana ketchup. And if you loved peanut butter and banana sandwiches as a kid, then you’ll love Chinese style cold soba peanut noodles with bananas, cilantro, lime, and spring onion.
The It’s a classic Western taste profile in an Eastern delivery system. Banana’s are also lovely dehydrated in a low oven overnight, and turn into crispy snacks or garnishes without any effort at all.
Lastly, try using chunks of banana as a base for fruit chutneys and salsas, similar to the ways in which mangoes and coconuts are used. The sweetness will balance out any sharp or hot flavors and compliment your main dishes beautifully.
About the Chef
Stephanie Goldfarb is a Chicago-based chef and national food television personality specializing in seasonal, globally-inspired cuisine. Recognized as the winner of Food Network’s America’s Best Cook competition, and a celebrity chef on Kitchen Inferno and NBC’s Food Fighters, Goldfarb delivers unique and relatable culinary experiences to discriminating and casual diners alike. As the owner of the successful Seven Species Supper Club & Catering, she enjoys the challenge of building brand new menus each month that inspire both repeat clients and newcomers, and seeks opportunities to utilize new ingredients, techniques, and approaches in accessible ways.