Vegan Banana Nut Bread

In the recent weeks there hasnt been a situation of over ripe bananas in our house. But last week we went on a camping trip to Arkansas where I had carried a bunch of bananas but half a dozen remained uneaten given the variety of food we had there. We were an enthusiastic group making upma and bhelpuri among other delectables, at the camp. It was a lovely time beside the river. The river itself was shallow at the camp site and there were innumerable small size fishes swimming around our legs. The whole gang enjoyed playing in the water and swimming with the fishes.

By the time we came back home, due to the heat, the bananas were all over ripe and I had to find a way to use them without throwing out the whole lot. I mentioned banana bread and to my surprise my daughter was overjoyed. I have no idea what caused the change of heart in the non-sweet eater but I wasnt going to let this chance get away. I baked the bread that very night and as is always the case with banana baked goods, it came out very well. We all enjoyed a healthy dessert that night and it lasted well for the next four days with refreidgeration.

Vegan Banana Nut Bread

Servings: One 4*8 loaf
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 35 - 45 mins

Ingredients

4 very ripe bananas
1 cup Whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup nuts (walnuts, almonds)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Grease a 4*8 loaf tin with a little oil or line it with parchment paper
3. Mash the bananas to fine and add in oil and sugar and mix well. Add in the vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Sieve the flours, baking soda and baking powder and mix well and keep aside
5. Add salt to the flour and mix well
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix till it comes together. Do not overmix.
7. Fold in the nuts
8. Pour the mix into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 35 - 45 mins till a skewer inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. (My oven took 45 mins)
9. Slice it up and serve warm.
10. It also tastes good as a base to a trifle or with ice-cream.

Bean and Oat Veggie Burger

When the need of the hour is to make your little one eat nutritious food without much fuss, the Burger is the way to go.  Simple, easy to make and extra delicious. Put a large dollop of tomato sauce inside the burger, for the kiddies and it goes in faster!

This burger is high in protein what with all the beans, lentils and oats. I used a combination of red kidney beans, black eyed beans, green channa dal, yellow channa dal, double beans, some other variety of bean that I dont recognise and green moong beans. The burger can also be made with very little oil and I mainly used oil to shallow fry the patty.
These burgers can be extra filling because of the beans. I served them with a portion of coleslaw instead of fries to round it off as a healthy efficient meal.

Bean and Oat Veggie Burger

Servings: 9 Patties
Prep Time:       Cook Time:

Ingredients 

1 cup Mixed beans
1/2 cup Green Moong beans
2 small Potatoes (optional)
1 small onion (cut in rings or jullienne)
1 tomato cut in slices
1 cucumber cut in slices
1/4 cup Oats flour
2 tsp Red Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp Aamchoor (Dried Mango powder)
1/2 tsp Cumin Coriander powder
1/2 cup Coriander Chutney (optional)
1/2 cup Tomato sauce (optional)
9 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Pressure cook soaked beans along with potatoes upto 3 whistles
2. Mash the cooked beans and potatoes
3. Add in all the spices and salt and mix well
4. Add in the oats flour and mix well.If the mixture is still having a paste like consistency add in more flour to make it drier
5. Take an onion sized piece of the patty mixture and pat it to a flat round of 2 1/2 inch diameter and 1/2 inch thickness
6. Shallow fry on a heated skillet by drizzling a little oil around it
7. Let it fry for a couple of minutes on medium-low flame, flip it and shallow fry the other side with a little bit of oil
8. Once its nicely done, remove from skillet and keep aside
9. Repeat the preparation of patty with the rest of the mixture.

To assemble the burger

1. Slice a burger in half and toast it in the toaster for a minute to get it nice and crisp. Alternately roast the inside of the bun on a hot skillet with some butter lathered on
2. Spread the inside of the bottom half with coriander chutney
3. Top it with onion slices
4. Place the burger patty on top of the onion, spread a little tomato sauce and top it off with tomato and cucumber slices
5. Place the upper half of the bun right on top

Quick soak for beans

1. Wash the mixed beans a couple of times in water
2. Place it in a vessel and cover with water upto 2 inches over the beans
3. Boil the water and then remove vessel from stove, cover and leave to soak for an hour
4. The beans would have softened and are ready to be cooked further. Wash and ready to use.
5. Soaking decreases the cooking time of the beans