If you like bananas and like me just can’t have enough of them, you probably just have a lot of banana peels going to the trash.
I know that we probably never thought about eating the peels of the bananas, but yes they are edible and rich in several key nutrients in fact, like potassium, fiber, polyunsaturated fats and even some amino acids.
This recipe is a good substitute for meat (not nutritionally speaking though) for vegans and vegetarians (it really looks like meat) but is also a very good, nutritious and tasty option for everyone and uses little and simple ingredients. The recipe is very easy and it takes no longer than 15 minutes to prepare. You can eat it with rice, bread, quinoa, salads, wraps, anything.
And best of all it’s a wonderful way of not wasting something so wonderful.
Let’s check it out then.
Ingredients
I include here the main ingredients, but you can add other vegetables if you like. Carrots and bell peppers go very well with the recipe.
Peels of ripe bananas (*more information on this below);
1 small onion
4 cloves of garlic
4 chopped tomatoes
4 tablespoon oil (olive or sunflower)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 small bunch of fresh coriander
1 lime squeezed
about the banana peels
You can just save the peels of the bananas you eat everyday. Just store them in a pot inside your fridge. The bananas should be ripe and it doesn’t matter if they are yellow or blackish already. They will last in your fridge for around 5-7 days but be careful of not storing them wet because they can go moldy.
The peels will go dark after one or two days and that’s normal. This will even make the dish more “meat-like” because of the brownish color.
Ideally, it’s better to use only organic bananas so they are pesticides-free. If you are unsure, you can soak your banana peels in vinegar for a couple of minutes and then wash them carefully with water to remove the vinegar taste.
This recipe is for about 10 banana peels. If you have less you can use half of this recipe.
instructions
Start washing the banana peels with running water and cut the ends.
If you don’t want any sweet residual taste, you can scrape the inside of the banana skin to remove the banana leftovers with the help of a spoon. Particularly, I don’t do that. I like the banana taste in the dish and I don’t think it’s sweet and this makes the dish more special to my taste.
Chop the peels with a knife. I like the peels in thin stripes and reserve.
Chop the tomatoes, the onion and garlic and other vegetables in case you add them.
In a frying pan, add the oil, the onion and the garlic and saute them until the onions are translucent. Then you can add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the banana peels and the seasons and cook them at medium heat for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring often so it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.
Once ready, add the coriander leaves chopped and it’s done!
This recipe was inspired by https://www.instagram.com/thallitaxavier/