…and have a golden hue/bananas are the best/and are the best for you!
Remember that little Chiquita jingle from the 80s?
I always sing it for my husband when he complains that the bananas are ‘rotten’. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t find it as hilariously instructive as I do. He has this thing about fruit, see, he’ll only eat it within a very small window (usually less than one day) when its at his perfect level of ripeness.
I’m a lot less picky, truth be told. If my apple has a bruise, I often don’t even bother to cut that part out, but will usually just eat the bruised area first – the idea being to get the bad part over with first, and then enjoy the rest of the apple. Incidentally, I’ll also do this with burnt spots on toast. Go figure. But getting back to fruit, I also can enjoy it at a whole range of ripeness. Got a plum that’s a little firm and tart? No matter, I’ll eat it. How about a nectarine a little past its prime? Sure…give it here. And spotty bananas – of course!
But my husband, darn him, is a different creature. Bananas, for husband, have to be yellow, slightly firm, and completely without spots. So, if I buy them yellow, we really only have one day to enjoy them. If I buy them green, we have about a 3-day window in which he’ll eat them before they begin to get spotty. I’ll usually finish off one or two when he’s passed them over, but let’s face it, one can only eat so many bananas. If, for instance, I buy 5 or 6 bananas on a Friday, and we go camping on the weekend, we might end up back at home on Sunday with a bowl full of fruit that hubby won’t touch.
So, what’s a girl to do? I guess there are a few options:
1. Garbage
2. Compost
3. Force feed the children
4. Bake Banana Bread
Funny, I almost always opt for number 4! Here’s why; I love to bake and, I have to say, I do make a mean banana bread. I’ve actually developed a bit of a reputation in the local mommy circle for my amazing banana bread. But I just don’t know what to do with the other fruits. I could make applesauce or apple crumble, true, but what to do with overripe pears, peaches, nectarines? Again, I could manage something with these similar orchard fruits. But what do you do with, say, oranges that have turned? Or mangos? Or – here’s a challenge – grapes?
So, over to you…any interesting and cool recipes for those leftover fruits? I’d love to know!
Smoothies are always good. I'm not so fond of them myself, but my 16-year-old loves them.
In theory, I clean out my produce drawers every week, which in a perfect world means that once a week I'm looking for something to do with the no-longer-prime veggies and fruit.
Veggies are easy. Soup or spaghetti sauce.
Here's two great fruit options:
1. Make a crumble. Way too easy -- just cut it up into pieces about the right-looking size. Peel it if you want, but I never do, except for oranges, mangos, etc. Bung it all together in an appropriately sized baking pan. I don't like the fruit to be more than two inches thick. Sometimes I just have enough for a loaf pan, other times a full 13 x 9 dish.
Make a crumble topping (oatmeal or flour based) -- you'll find a recipe in any basic cookbook, or in a three-second google search.
Bake about half an hour or so. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or nothing at all.
2. Even easier -- a fruit sauce. All the fruit goes in a solid saucepan, again cutting and peeling is to your own taste, but I do recommend coring apples. Add a little liquid -- juice is best, but water will do. Rum is great, but probably not if you have little ones who might cultivate a taste. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer, covered, till all the fruit is mushy. Time really varies, depending on the type of fruit, but certainly this won't take more than half an hour, unless you count turnips as fruit.
Put it through a food processor or blender if you want a really smooth product.
Serve it on ice cream, spread it on toast, use it to fill those little frozen tart shells...
You can, if you like, add sugar to either of these recipes, but I never do.
Thanks Jean, great ideas. Can you really make a crumble with oranges? I never would have thought of it, but maybe I'll try it. I have a few in the fridge that are getting kinda wrinkled!
Frozen grapes, also known as Eskimo wine, are naturally sweet and refreshing--just pop them in your mouth. Also. throwing a frozen banana into a smoothie dilutes it less than ice cubes and offers nutrition. My neighbour freezes whole unpeeled mangoes to chop up and stir into yogurt later. Which brings to mind frozen yogurt pops. Just blend 2 cups fruit with 2 cups yogurt, add 2 tablespoons preserves or honey and freeze in popsicle moulds. All yummy!
My tough one was always what to do with leftover lettuce, I for one am not a fan of brown salads until one day someone gave me a great option. Take all your leftover veggies, including your lettuce and stick it in a food processor with some V8 or vegetable juice of choice. Voila, gazpacho!
try banana chocolate chip cookies.....I got the recipe from a friend....google it and maybe you can find it! If not, email me and I'll search my cupboards for the recipe!@