Banana flower – very cool as you peel off the tough, red, outer petals, you find proto-bananas

After you peel off the tough leaves, chop the banana flower and soak it in lemon water for at least 20 minutes. This was a sauteed salad — next time, we’ll try it raw.

This was spectacular – I’ve been looking for a replacement for “mashed potatoes”, and tried mashed yuca root. You’ve got to peel it and, as I learned after making it the first time, there’s very fibrous bits at the ends and running down the middle. Chop the root into small chunks and boil in salted water for about 25 minutes.

Remove from the water and mash while they are warm. Mix in a little coconut oil, salt, and garlic.

I made braised shortribs and roasted parsnip today. I also made a baked version of tostones. Steam the plantains (cut the ends off, steam or microwave for ~3 minutes per plantain), cut them into rounds, then squish into a flat nugget. Lightly coat with salt and olive oil, then bake at 425. 10 minutes, flip, and ten more minutes. It could use some sort of sauce, but they are very similar to potato nuggets.

Saute 4 cloves of garlic in 1/2 cup olive oil. Add salt and 1 lb of medium shrimp (peeled and deveined). Cook for a few minutes until the shrimp is cooked. Add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of lemon zest. Toss with cooked garbanzo spaghetti. A quick, and tasty, meal.

On my thought that the banana ketchup would make a good barbecue sauce, I cooked some pork this evening with the banana sauce. It is pretty good – although I might want to use a little less vinegar next time.

The idea was to make a pizza-like meal without any wheat, tomatoes, or refined sugar. This crust didn’t work so well, and the sauce is more of a barbecue sauce than a tomato paste.

The dough was the Paleo Baking Flour from Bob’s Mill — recipe from the back of the bag. I added some ground flax seed. It was something, but didn’t hold up as a pizza crust.

Sauce was a “banana ketchup”

• 2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1/2 c apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp coconut aminos
• 1/2 ground tumeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• up to 1/2 cup water

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion, garlic, and ginger and saute until onions are translucent. Add mashed banana and stir. Mix in remaining ingredients except water. Cool over low heat for at least 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Blend in a food processor until a smooth puree forms.

Fresh “sausage” – cube pork, sprinkle with salt and fennel seeds. Allow to sit for at least 15 minutes. Grind, saute until cooked.

Topped the dough with sauce, fresh sausage, and cheese (still working on a good AIP cheese replacement!). It was good, but not pizza.

Sauteed one medium onion, a handful of baby carrots (mostly for color), and steamed cauliflower. Pureed all in a blender with ~1 tsp tumeric, salt, 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast, and garlic (next time, roast the garlic … this just tasted like raw garlic!).

This created a sauce for the pasta

Cooked garbanzo bean pasta and added the sauce. Stirred and served.

So it kinda looks like noodles and cheese … but it doesn’t taste anything like mac and cheese.

Similar to the previous shepard’s pie, but with freshly ground pork, onions, and parsnips. Sauce made with chicken bone broth. Topped with cauliflower mash and broiled for about 15 minutes until the topping browned.