A week or so ago I had the pleasure of conducting a cooking demonstration for St Paul’s School in Brisbane at their new Entrepreneur Expo. Tracy Stanley, who I met through the wonderful Female Founders initiative, had asked me to come and speak about Mix Taste Eat and I delightfully agreed to talk about my business, why MTE started and cook something delicious for everyone!
The other businesses there had a strong sustainability focus so I offered to create something that uses an ingredient that’s otherwise thrown out – Banana Peels!
In Australia some of the top most wasted foods include fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, leftovers and bagged greens. One of my favourite things to do with browning bananas is to freeze them for a breakfast smoothie or turn them into Banana Bread. A fun underrated way to use the whole fruit is to create a ‘pulled pork’.
This vegan/vegetarian dish is quick, easy and quite delicious! It makes a unique Meat Free Monday option (especially when there’s not much other food in the house) that will trick your family and friends. Everyone at my recent demonstration really enjoyed the sliders I created, topped with a fresh coleslaw on Turkish Bread!
If you’d like to give it a go yourself, here’s the recipe:
Banana Peel Pulled Pork
A unique meat free pulled pork that will taste delicious and use up your scraps!
- 1 onion (peeled and sliced)
- 30 g butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 2 Banana Peels
- 1 Tbs BBQ Sauce
- 4 Burger Buns (to serve)
- 1 cup Coleslaw (to serve)
Finely slice your onion into thin strips and add to a pan on medium heat with the butter, salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are soft and caramelised.
Meanwhile, take your banana peel and lay with the inside up on the chopping board. Run a spoon down the length, removing and discarding the soft inside flesh. Then run a fork down the length of the skin, breaking it into strips. Pull these apart with your fingers.
Add the paprika, garlic powder and cumin and a tbs of water and stir through, cooking for a few minutes. Add the banana peel and BBQ sauce and 1/4 cup of water and stir together. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, until the skin has softened.
Serve on toasted buns with fresh coleslaw.
