Banana Bread

I returned from vacation to find 6 brown bananas on my counter. They needed used and I just happened to come across Emily Fonnesbeck's recipe. The only thing I did differently was use whole wheat flour and add bittersweet dark chocolate chips. If you haven't checked out Emily yet, you must. She is phenomenal. Okay, so I haven't actually met her but I plan to one day...and maybe do an internship with her when I finally return to school! A girl can dream...

Here is her recipe:

JC's Banana Bread 

2 ½ cups rice flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

6 ripe bananas

2 eggs

¼ cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

Combine rice flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a blender, place bananas, egg, oil and vanilla and blend to mix. Add banana mixture to rice flour mixture and stir to combine. Place in greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Enjoy!

Emily Fonnesbeck RD, CD, CLT

Ratatouille

My New Hampshire family sent us home with all kinds of yummy veggies from their garden. I knew exactly what I needed to make and we watched Ratatouille while we ate! I used this recipe but deviated just a bit.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized tomatoes, greens removed
• 1 bulb garlic, tip cut off to expose cloves on top
• 1 eggplant
• 2 zucchini (unpeeled)
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 very large carrot
• 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoon olive oil + additional for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons leaves thyme
• 1 tablespoon leaves oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 °F. Roast the tomatoes and garlic bulb (drizzled with a touch of olive oil) for 45 minutes to 60 minutes, or until skins on tomatoes are very wrinkly and darkened, and the garlic is caramelized and fragrant. Remove from the oven, let cool and then remove skins from the tomatoes and the roasted garlic cloves from the bulb.
2. Decrease your oven temp to 375 °F. Slice the eggplant, zucchini, sweet potato, and carrot into even slices, about 1/6 to 1/4 of an inch thick.
3. In a food processor, blend the roasted tomatoes and garlic along with the tomato paste, sea salt, basil, and 2 tablespoons olive oil until very smooth. Spread 3/4 of the sauce into the bottom of a lightly oiled ceramic oven safe dish. Arrange the sliced vegetables into a spiral ring, alternating the colors to create an eye-catching pattern. Drizzle with olive oil (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and the remainder of the sauce. Top with fresh thyme and oregano.
4. Top with a layer of parchment paper to cover and bake in preheated oven for 55 minutes. Let cool and then serve alone or on a bed of mashed potatoes, quinoa, forbidden rice, or your favorite grain.