Bananas

Bananas are a tropical fruit crop that is widely consumed for their flavor, nutritional value, and availability throughout the year. They are grown in the tropics and are most commonly eaten fresh. Bananas are also used to flavor muffins, cakes, or breads. Cooking varieties, or plantains, are starchy rather than sweet and are grown extensively as a staple food source in tropical regions; they are cooked when ripe or immature. A ripe fruit contains as much as 22 percent of carbohydrate and is high in dietary fiber, potassium, manganese, and vitamins B6 and C ¹.

There are many ways to cook bananas. Roasting bananas is one way to amplify their flavor. To roast bananas, preheat your oven to 150°C. Then place four to six unpeeled ripe bananas on a lined baking sheet. With a fork, pierce the skin of each banana a few times on all sides and then bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the bananas when the skin has turned black and shiny. Let cool and then split open the peels and scoop out the roasted banana. Another way is to make baked banana chips by peeling and thinly slicing six to eight slightly underripe bananas.

Next, toss the banana slices in lemon juice and arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 2 hours and then gently flip with a spatula. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 60 to 90 minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cooking banana is perhaps the best-kept kitchen secret you’re missing out on—until now ³.

They can be used in various dishes such as muffins, cakes or breads. Cooking varieties such as plantains are starchy rather than sweet and are grown extensively as a staple food source in tropical regions; they are cooked when ripe or immature they are versatile and widely used in Asian, Caribbean, and Hispanic cuisines.