Easy Banana-Oat Snack Bars

As many of you know I'm a biologist, and that often means long days in the field, and long times in between full meals. 

I've tried many home-made bars in my time, but when I tried these ones, made by my co-worker, I got really excited - they were so yummy, filling, and just the right texture! 

This recipe is super loose/adaptable, the most important thing is the general proportions, but feel free to exchange different nuts / seeds / dried fruits as you see fit! If you need to make these nut-free just swap out the walnuts and almonds for more seeds (or chocolate chips, if you’re feeling wild)!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana, fresh or frozen (3-4 large)
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries or blueberries
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, jumbo raisins, or dried chopped apricots
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 cup pepita seeds
• 1 cup almonds, chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with butter or oil
3. In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Measure to ensure you have 1 1/2 cups
4. In a separate bowl mix the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and any other spices you want. 
5. Stir the dry spice mixture, vanilla, and honey into the bananas.
6. Place the oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped, stir completely into the mashed bananas.
7. Stir the dried fruit, walnuts, flax and pepita seeds, & almonds into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined.
8. Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish. With a fork or lightly wet hands press down the mixture until even and compact. 
9. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until firm and lightly golden along the edges. 
10. Let the dish cool for at least 10 minutes
11. Slice the slab into bars either using a knife, pizza cutter, or bench knife. 
12. These can be served immediately as a snack or saved a parsed throughout a week.
13. Leftovers can be stored in a tupperware in the fridge for about a week, or in a freezer for 4-6 weeks.

Other Ideas:

• Dried fruit can be subbed out for chocolate chips
• You can sub in/out pretty much any nuts used in this recipe
• Hempseed hearts are a great sub for the flaxseed

This recipe is adapted from Oh She Glows Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars, which was adapted from Anjali's Oat Snack Bars recipe, which was originally adapted from Faith's 4-Ingredient Banana Oat Bars.

 

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans
• 14 ounce veggie broth
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup half and half cream* (leave out for a vegan soup!)
• 1/2 cup water*

*optional

instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, until tender.
2. In a blender, puree the beans until smooth. Pour into a large pot.
3. Puree the sauteed vegetables with the veggie broth. Add to the pot.
4. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
5. Mix in cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Simmer 20 minutes.
6. Add water as desired to thin the soup, or leave as is.
7. Garnish with cilantro, cheddar cheese, and/or sour cream as desired to serve.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro Pasta

This is a super easy dish that I make in the Fall / Winter, when Brussels sprouts are in season! 

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts, halved

3-5 Tbsp Olive Oil (more if you want!)

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1/2 lbs linguine pasta

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 - 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped *optional, you can replace with parsley, or nothing at all if you don't like cilantro!

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 35 min

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F (450 F if at elevation)
2. Prepare Brussels sprouts by trimming the ends and cutting them in half, if there are loose leaves mixed in, that's totally fine! (they turn into crunchy snacks)
3. Toss the chopped Brussels sprouts in 3-4 Tbsp of olive oil, salt, and pepper.  You want the Brussels sprouts to all be thinly coated with oil. 
4. Pour Brussels sprouts onto a baking sheet, you want there to be plenty of room in and around them on the pan
5. Roast Brussels sprouts uncovered for 20-30 min, stirring occasionally, or until edges are brown and crisped
6. While Brussels sprouts are roasting, bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta and cook until soft.
7. Mince two cloves of garlic and heat them in a sauce pan on low heat with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil.
8. When pasta is done, drain, and toss in the pan with garlic and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
9. Throw the cilantro in with pasta for about 1 min. 
10. Mix cilantro pasta with crisped Brussels sprouts in a bowl, or serve separately and enjoy!