Recipes: Let's go bananas!

They're New Zealand's top-selling fruit and we regard them as a little ho-hum.

They make great snacks, breakfasts-on-the-run and lunchbox fillers. They're superb in sweet and savoury salads, sautéed with bacon, mashed into cakes and flambéed with brandy. But bananas offer more.

According to the World Health Organisation, we need to eat at least 3510mg of potassium a day and less than 2000mg of sodium (that is, one teaspoon of table salt).

Too much sodium and not enough potassium in the diet increases the risk of high blood pressure, and consequently heart disease and stroke. One medium-sized banana contains a whopping 400mg-plus of potassium. So including bananas in your menu helps maintain normal blood pressure and heart function.

MONKEY MEATLOAF

Three medium-sized bananas produce about 1 cup of mashed banana.

INGREDIENTS

1kg lean minced beef
1 small shallot, diced
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup cooked long grain rice
2 Tbsp each: prepared mustard, Worcestershire sauce
1 cup (300g) mashed banana

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 23x12cm loaf pan.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl then pack into the loaf pan. Bake for about 50 minutes or until cooked. Great served with a salsa prepared from diced banana, green kiwifruit and chilli seasoned with lemon juice, sugar, chopped coriander, salt and pepper to taste. - Serves 8

NO-BAKE BANANA CHOC ROUGHS

Store in the freezer for a moreish crunchy treat.

INGREDIENTS

200g chopped bananas
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup each: almond or cashew nut butter, finely chopped nuts
1 Tbsp dark cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups rolled oats

METHOD

Place the bananas in a saucepan with the chocolate chips and coconut milk. Heat on low, mashing the bananas with a fork, until smooth. Add the nut butter, nuts and cocoa. Stir on low heat until well combined.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla essence and rolled oats. Cool. Spoon tablespoons onto baking or waxed paper and refrigerate until set. Store in fridge or freezer. - Makes 24

BANANA BREAD

This popular bread is often served toasted in coffee shops. I used OOB Frozen Organic Sliced Bananas that I thawed slightly before mashing.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1/4 cup canola oil
400g peeled & chopped bananas

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 21x10cm loaf pan.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Combine the oil and bananas, mashing and mixing until smooth. Fold into the dry ingredients until just mixed. Pour into the loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

BANOFFEE PIE

This English dessert - a pastry or biscuit shell filled with a toffee/caramel mixture and bananas - is decadently delicious.

INGREDIENTS

Biscuit shell: 250g wheaten biscuits, finely crushed
125g butter, melted
1/2 cup each: self-raising flour, desiccated coconut
1 egg, lightly beaten
Filling: 100g butter
4 Tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla essence
395g can sweetened condensed milk
2 bananas, sliced

METHOD

To prepare the biscuit shell, combine all the ingredients in the order given. Reserve of a cup for the top and press the remaining mixture into a greased 20cm-22cm flan dish. Preheat the oven to 160C.

To make the filling, combine the butter, golden syrup, vanilla essence and condensed milk in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Pour onto the flan base.

Place the sliced bananas on top, and cover with the reserved crumb mixture.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden and set. Great served garnished with freshly sliced bananas and whipped cream. - Serves 6-8