Tag: cranberries

  • Banana Cake with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

    Banana Cake with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

    First time I blended together bananas and eggs was in Thailand, last year. It turned out to be an excellent, nutricious, cheap and easy combo, however I never posted a thing about it and kind of forgot about banana & eggs until today.

    Because today, Aleydis shared with me her slice of banana cake and its recipe (which in turn contributed to this one). I got inspired and decided to make one. It became a cake made of gifts. 

    A few days ago, Maartje donated an interesting German bag of grains with matcha (powdered green tea leaves).

    And a week or two ago, Danielle forgot to take her kilobag of dried cranberries back home and so I took the liberty of considering those a gift as well ;D.

    The cranberries and sunflower seeds happened to be what I found in the kitchen drawer. This banana cake would also be really nice with dates and walnuts, or figs and pecans, or peach and cashews, or chocolate and hazelnuts, just to name a few ideas.

    Also, I used the peculiar Frühstücksbrei mit Amaranth (German) donated by Maartje, which contains oat, spelt, amaranth, almond and matcha. Just plain oat or even wheat flour would work just as well.

    This banana cake can be made using an oven. I used a frying pan with a lid (hapjespan, in Dutch). Worked perfectly! Here’s the very easy banana cake recipe:

    Banana Cake with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

    Blend up 2 large bananas with 3 eggs and 2 heaping tablespoons of oat/oatmeal (or whatever you are using). Blend until smooth.

    Then stir in a 3rd tablespoon of oatmeal, 1 handful of dried cranberries and 1 handful of sunflower seeds. Save soms fruits & nuts for later. At this point, you could also add some cinnamon or vanilla, for example. I didn’t because I didn’t have any and it still worked out great!

    Grease a frying pan with lid, put it on the lowest heat possible. In the oven, 160 degrees Celsius would probably be good. Pour in the mixture (which is about as thick as medium to full fat yoghurt) and grind a bit of salt over it. Use a fork to lightly blend the salt in, but not too much! I like experiencing saltier and less salty bites, combined with the sweetness of the fruits.

    In about 30-40 minutes it should be ready to be turned, but keep checking in the meantime. You’ll know when it’s time because the top of the cake will be all dry. Then turn the cake, put back on the heat or in the oven and within another 5-10 minutes it’s ready. Let cool for a few minutes, dress up with the spare filling and possibly some honey (if you have a sweeter tooth).

    I was surprised by how nicely this combination of banana, cranberry and sunflower seeds turned out! And I’ll definitely be making this cake more often. The base of bananas, eggs and oat is rather cheap as well so this would be a perfect cake recipe for parties and potlucks, as well as a nice solution for using up bananas or eggs while they’re fresh.

  • Pear, Cranberry & Pecan Salad with Blue Cheese

    Pear, Cranberry & Pecan Salad with Blue Cheese

    The Dutch word for yummie is lekker. Remember that one, you’ll hear and use it very, very often should you ever spend some time in The Netherlands!

    With us, yumminess may apply not only to food, but also to a pleasant experience, touch, music, activity, the weather, space, atmosphere and practically anything else. Basically, we can call anything that is pleasant, good, or nice lekker.

    This  very lekkere salad is made with organic vegetarian Dutch blue cheese, which I found at the local supermarket. I just recently found out that at least in this local AH store, they sell quite a few vegetarian cheeses. Hurray for them: lekker bezig!

    Vegetarian cheeses are made using non-animal-derived rennet. Conventional rennet is derived from the lining of the inside of the stomach of mammals, and most commonly from the fourth stomach of young calves (source). Lekker dan.. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][insert sarcasm sign here]

    If you don’t like blue cheese, just leave it out or substitute for another kind of cheese.

    Recipe for Pear, Cranberry & Pecan Salad with Blue Cheese

    It’s very easy as well: mix together a handful of white cabbage (sliced) and a handful of dried cranberries. Toss in a bowl together with soms baby chard leafs, a handful of roasted (possibly salted) pecan nuts, and a handful of pear slices (1 pear). Add a few pieces of blue cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

    And now… lekker eten![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]