Chocolate Banana Gelato

Chocolate Banana Gelato with Blueberries

This gelato is made from frozen bananas. You may wonder: Why feature a recipe made from bananas when bananas are not one of the more nutritious fruits? According to the ANDI scoring system of nutrient density, bananas rate a mere 30, while strawberries are 212, and cantaloupe comes in at 100. Why do bananas score so low? Because they’re not chock-full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, or phytochemicals.

In addition, per unit weight, bananas are quite high in sugar, and very respected medical nutrition experts have been waving the red flag against sugar.

But what if bananas came packaged with cocoa – which is rich in antioxidants, proanthocyanidins, and many polyphenols? Then the ANDI scoring system would surly give bananas a much higher score! So…

• Step one: Add cocoa to bananas as we do in this recipe.
• Step two: Enjoy this gelato at the end of a meal – especially at the end of a meal loaded with fiber — not as a snack all by itself (as explained by the medical nutrition experts who caution against sugar, as mentioned above).

CHOCOLATE BANANA GELATO
I absolutely love this desert! And it’s a lot healthier than the square of dark chocolate I used to eat after dinner. After all, compared to even just a small piece of a dark chocolate bar, this Chocolate Banana Gelato is very low in fat and saturated fat. Just take a look at this table to see how cocoa and dark chocolate compare.

Each serving of Chocolate Banana Gelato contains 2 tablespoons of cocoa. A 1-ounce serving of bittersweet chocolate has about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa, if made according to the recipe provided by Joy of Baking. So Chocolate Banana Gelato is a great low-fat way to get the health benefits of cocoa without all the saturated fat that comes with a chocolate bar!

Serves 2

Method 1 – food processor

Ingredients

1 large very ripe banana, peeled, cut into triangular chunks, and frozen (See ingredient note below.)
1/4 cup high quality cocoa (See ingredient note below.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a little freshly grated nutmeg
2 – 3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (See ingredient note below.)
Your choice of berries for garnish

Directions
Place the frozen banana chunks, cocoa, vanilla extract, and nutmeg into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Wait a minute or two to let the banana thaw ever so slightly (makes it easier to process the bananas). Then place the almond milk into the feed tube of the food processor and process the mixture until it’s smooth and creamy.

Method 2 – Vitamix (heavy duty blender)

I don’t quite have the quantities down, but you can wing this on your own. Just use about 4 frozen bananas broken into 1-2-inch pieces (they do not have to be pre-cut into triangles). Put the bananas into the Vitamix along with all the other ingredients (in about four times the amounts shown above). Be sure that the almond milk comes up to right over the blades; if not, add more almond milk. If you have to add a disproportionately large amount of almond milk in order to cover the blades, then add about 1/2 of a ripe avocado. That will keep the resulting gelato nice and creamy!

Freeze for later

You can freeze this yummy desert for later, too.  Just freeze in individual serving dishes or in silicone muffin pans. If you are using the muffin pans, then remove the frozen individual servings and store them in a plastic bag for the freezer.  When ready to enjoy, just microwave (set on defrost) to bring the frozen gelato to the right consistency.

Ingredient notes

Banana - cut into triangular pieces

Bananas – For food processor only: Cut the banana into triangular pieces as shown in the photo so that there is more surface area for the blades of the food processor to grab onto, which helps the processor process faster and better.  Also, when you freeze the banana pieces, spread them out on a baking sheet so that they freeze individually, not clumped together. This will make it a lot easier for you to remove just the quantity you want when you are ready to make your gelato.

Note: Click on photo to read details

Penzeys High Fat Cocoa – Be sure to choose a pure cocoa powder – not a cocoa mix that contains sugar and other ingredients! I like Penzeys Natural High Fat Cocoa, even though it has more fat than cocoa not labeled “high fat.” But the Penzeys product is still not high in fat when you compare it to chocolate itself! And this Penzeys Cocoa is also not Dutch processed, which is good because Dutch processing (adding alkalizing agents) destroys some of the antioxidants in the cocoa.

Almond milk – It’s best to use almond milk rather than dairy milk because dairy foods interfere with the absorption of the antioxidants in cocoa.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Yummy and Healthy Hot – or Iced – Cocoa Drink

Hot cocoa (hot chocolate) — whether from a restaurant, a coffee shop, or a mix — is typically loaded with sugar. This Yummy and Healthy Hot Cocoa contains much less sugar — just enough to taste a little sweet. As with any food that contains sugar, it’s best to consume it at the end of a meal — not between meals. This is because when eaten at the end of a meal, a food that contains sugar will raise your blood sugar less than when eaten between meals. And since blood sugar control is important to preventing cancer, it makes sense to finish off a meal with a cup of this delicious hot chocolate, rather than between meals.

Ingredients for both hot and iced cocoa

1 heaping tablespoon cocoa (not Dutch processed cocoa)

• Why Cocoa? How does cocoa help your body prevent cancer? Which cocoa is the best kind? How can you be sure to get all the benefits from the cocoa you consume?

3 tablespoons boiling filtered water

¾ cup almond milk — vanilla (not plain)

• Almond milk can be found in the refrigerated section, next to the regular dairy milk, or in aisle with the shelf-stable milk.

• One cup of Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Breeze (almond milk) contains 15 grams of sugar. A cup of skim milk contains 12 grams of sugar. The difference, 4 grams, is equal to the amount of sugar in one teaspoon of sugar.

1/8 teaspoon pure (not imitation) almond extract and a drop of pure vanilla extract

• The extract should contain only water, alcohol, and natural almond oil.  I like the almond extract that I bought at Penzeys Spices.

• Alternatively, there are alcohol-free extracts, for example, Frontier’s Alcohol Free Almond Flavor, that contains only glycerine, water, and natural bitter almond oil. I found this product at Whole Foods. It works just as well as the almond extract with alcohol in it.

Directions for hot cocoa

Place the cocoa into a large cup or mug.

Add the boiling water.

To blend the cocoa into the water, stir vigorously with a very small whisk; a chopstick works, too. If you have a milk frother , use that instead.

When fully mixed, add the almond milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract; heat in the microwave until hot. Stir with a spoon.

Directions for iced cocoa – delicious iced chocolate almond milk drink

Place the cocoa into a tall glass.

Add the boiling water.

To blend the cocoa into the water, stir vigorously with a very small whisk; a chopstick works, too. If you have a milk frother , use that instead.

When fully mixed, add the almond milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract; mix well.

Add the ice cubes and let your iced cocoa chill for a few minutes before drinking.

Deeeeelicious!

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Why Cocoa?

How does cocoa help your body prevent cancer?

“Dark chocolate (more than 70% cocoa) contains a number of antioxidants, proanthocyanidins, and many polyphenols (a square of chocolate contains twice as many as a glass of red wine and almost as many as a cup of green tea properly steeped). These molecules [from the cocoa] slow the growth of cancer cells and limit angiogenesis.” [page 140, Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD, David, Anticancer, A New Way of Life, 2009 edition] Note: Italics within the quote are mine.

While a chocolate bar with 70% cocoa has more cocoa than one with 50% cocoa and therefore the 70% bar gives more anti-cancer benefits, plain cocoa (the powder) is 100% cocoa and therefore it’s even better for you.

Tips on getting the most benefit from the cocoa in your diet

Do not mix chocolate and dairy products – in the same food (as in a chocolate bar or hot cocoa made with dairy milk (OK with almond or soy milk) or in the same meal (as in drinking dairy milk along with a small portion of a dark chocolate bar). “Mixing dairy products with chocolate cancels the beneficial effects of the molecules of cocoa. Avoid milk chocolate”. [page 140, Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD, David, Anticancer, A New Way of Life, 2009 edition]  For a summary of the recent research on this topic, see BBC’s report, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3185363.stm .

Avoid Dutch process cocoa (or Dutched cocoa), because the Dutch process (a process that makes the cocoa more alkaline) is reduces the antioxidants in the cocoa, although there are some experts that dispute this conclusion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_process_chocolate .  To find out if your cocoa is Dutch processed or not read the ingredient list on your product’s label as it sometimes is not mentioned in the name or description of the product on the front of the container.

For additional information about cocoa and its health benefits, see:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050421234416.htm

For some great recipes using cocoa, including my favorite hot cocoa, enter the term “cocoa” into the search bar in the upper right hand corner of this site.

~Leni

CHOCOLATE: Homemade Designer Chocolates

Chocolate tastes WONDERFUL and is GOOD for you — dark (70% or more cocoa) chocolate, in small quantities, that is.

While a chocolate bar with 70% or more cocoa contains lots healthful anti-cancer substances, it also contains saturated fat and sugar – unfortunately.

So…the challenge I gave myself was to figure out how to enrich a 70% cocoa chocolate bar with more cocoa — without creating a bitter or grainy chocolate. With the help of a few enthusiastic German exchange students who happened to be visiting, we came up with some DELICIOUS designer chocolates!

In fact, I think that these chocolates are so good that I plan to give small boxes of assorted Homemade Designer Chocolates for holiday gifts this year (pretty boxes lined with wax or parchment paper and filled with a layer — or a few layers — of assorted Homemade Designer Chocolates)!

HOMEMADE DESIGNER CHOCOLATES

Nutrition and health tip: As with any food that contains sugar, it’s best to consume it at the end of a meal — not between meals. This is because any food containing sugar) when eaten at the end of a meal raises blood sugar less than when eaten between meals. And since blood sugar control is important to preventing cancer, it makes sense to finish off a meal with these delicious chocolates, but not to snack on them between meals.

Designer Variety #1: Coffee Bean Chocolates

Ingredients

About 6 grams of a dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa) chocolate bar

• Why Cocoa? How does cocoa help your body prevent cancer? Which cocoa is the best kind? How can you be sure to get all the benefits from the cocoa you consume?

• Six grams is about 1 square of an Endangered Species Supreme Dark Chocolate 72% bar or ½ square of a Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85% Cocao bar. Just do the math and you’ll know how much chocolate is approximately 6 grams. Most likely it’s a small square or half of a large square.

½ teaspoon of cocoa

• I used the Lake Champlain All Natural Unsweetened Cocoa that I had on hand, but I’m sure that the Hershey’s Cocoa or Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa that most supermarkets carry would be fine, too.

¼ teaspoon crushed coffee beans

• Decaf or regular coffee beans are fine.
• Just crush the beans with a meat tenderizing mallet (if you have one) or the back of a glass.

¼ teaspoon canola oil

½ teaspoon agave nectar

½ teaspoon chopped walnuts

• I used the Trader Joe’s Walnut Baking Pieces

Directions

Note: These directions are for making one piece of chocolate. It’s just easier to explain it that way. But of course, you will be making enough to fill at least one silicone mini-muffin pan.

• Use a sharp knife to cut the chocolate bar into squares (along the scores lines).
• Place a piece of the chocolate bar (about 6 grams) into each opening of a silicone mini muffin pan.
• To the chocolate in the mini muffin compartment, add the cocoa, crushed coffee beans, canola oil, and agave nectar.
• Place a cup of cold water into the microwave oven. This is just to protect the microwave oven, because in the next step you will be heating a small quantity of food and that could harm the microwave oven.  Note:  If you are making more than one bath (pan) of chocolates, then before making each subsequent batch, replace the water in the cup with cold water. This way it will take about the same length of time to melt each batch of the chocolate mixture. Also, this prevents the cup of water from boiling over after several batches!
• Place the silicone mini muffin pan with the chocolate and other ingredients into the microwave oven; heat on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
• Remove the silicone mini muffin pan from the microwave oven and using a chopstick (or perhaps a small butter knife), stir the warm chocolate mixture to mix well.
• If needed, heat for another 15 seconds in the microwave oven; stir.
• Sprinkle each chocolate with walnuts, pressing them lightly into the chocolate.
• Place the filled mini muffin pan into the freezer.
• When frozen, pop your Designer Chocolates out of the mini muffin pan and serve. Or store your Designer Chocolates in freezer bags in the freezer for enjoying later.
• Note: These chocolates do not have to be eaten frozen,but they’re very nice frozen or slightly defrosted.
• While I haven’t yet tested this (because they disappear to fast around here), I imagine they can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or more without a problem
• A friend of mine to whom I gave some chocolates put them into a decorative box and kept them on her counter for a few days.

Note: Because these chocolates aren’t high in saturated fat, they will be firm but not hard (unless frozen). When you eat them, you may find that a little chocolate sticks to your warm fingers. That’s fine; just lick! I served these chocolates at a party, and everyone loved them. No one seemed to mind their slightly chocolate smudged fingers.

 

Designer Variety #2: Ginger Cherry Chocolates

I LOVE these Ginger Cherry Chocolates! In fact, now that I’ve tasted these chocolates, plain chocolate bars are rather dull and boring – even the best of them!

Ingredients

6 grams of a chocolate bar with 70% or more cocoa OR 6 grams (2 teaspoons) of chocolate baking pieces (chocolate chips)

Some suitable chocolate products:

• Chocolate bar: Endangered Species Supreme Dark Chocolate 72%
• Chocolate bar: Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85% Cocao
• Chocolate bar note: I don’t suggest the Ghirardelli Chocolate Baking Bar 100% Cocoa because it’s a lot higher in saturated fat than the products I have recommended.
• Chocolate chunks (chips): 365 Dark Chocolate Mini Chunks 70% Cacoa (Whole Foods product)
  • Mini chunks (and chips) are less expensive than chocolate bars.

6  grams of chocolate is equal to…

• about 1 square of an Endangered Species Supreme Dark Chocolate 72% bar
• ½ square of a Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85% Cocao bar.
• 2 teaspoons of 365 Dark Chocolate Mini Chunks 70% Cocoa

½ teaspoon of cocoa

• I used the Lake Champlain All Natural Unsweetened Cocoa that I had on hand, but I’m sure that the Hershey’s Cocoa or Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa that most supermarkets carry would be fine, too.

1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger

¼ teaspoon canola oil

¼ teaspoon agave nectar

3 dried cherries

• For dried cherries, I love the Stoneridge Orchards Cherry Mix (whole dried Montmorency, Balaton, and Bing Cherry Blend) from Costco. These dried cherries are the best I’ve ever tasted and $8.99 for 20 ounces is also a great price. For more about these cherries, see the Monamifood blog entry, Cherries and Berries with Yogurt.

• Use the smaller cherries in this mix. They are sweet and slightly tart.

Directions

Note: These directions are for making one piece of chocolate. It’s just easier to explain it that way. But of course, you will be making enough to fill at least one silicone mini-muffin pan.

• If using chocolate bars, use a sharp knife to cut the chocolate bar into squares (along the scores lines).
• Into one cup of a silicone mini muffin, place a piece of the chocolate bar (about 6 grams) or 2 teaspoons (6 grams) of chocolate mini chunks.
• To the chocolate in the mini muffin cup, add the cocoa, ginger, canola oil, and agave nectar.
• Place a cup of cold water into the microwave oven. This is just to protect the microwave oven, because in the next step you will be heating a small quantity of food and that could harm the microwave oven.  Note:  If you are making more than one bath (pan) of chocolates, then before making each subsequent batch, replace the water in the cup with cold water. This way it will take about the same length of time to melt each batch of the chocolate mixture. Also, this prevents the cup of water from boiling over after several batches!
• Place the silicone mini muffin pan with the chocolate and other ingredients into the microwave oven; heat on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
• Remove the silicone mini muffin pan from the microwave oven and using a chopstick (or perhaps a small butter knife), stir the warm chocolate mixture to mix well.
• If needed to completely melt the chocolate, heat for another 15 seconds in the microwave oven; stir.
• Place 3 dried cherries in each muffin cup and press them lightly into the chocolate, just enough so that they’re firmly anchored in the melted chocolate (not submerged).
• Place the filled mini muffin pan into the freezer.
• When frozen, pop your Designer Ginger Cherry Chocolates out of the mini muffin pan and serve.
• Or store your Designer Chocolates in the freezer in freezer bags for enjoying later.
• Note: These chocolates do not have to be eaten frozen,but they’re very nice frozen or slightly defrosted.
• While I haven’t yet tested this (because they disappear to fast around here), I imagine they can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or more without a problem
• A friend of mine to whom I gave some chocolates put them into a decorative box and kept them on her counter for a few days.

Note: Because these chocolates aren’t high in saturated fat, they will be firm but not hard (unless frozen). So when you eat them, you may find a little chocolate sticks to your warm fingers. That’s fine; just lick! I served them at a party, and everyone loved them. No one seems to mind their slightly chocolate smudged fingers!

Designer Variety #3: Cherry Almond Chocolates

These are great too!!!!

Ingredients

6 grams of a chocolate bar with 70% or more cocoa OR 6 grams (2 teaspoons) of chocolate baking pieces (chocolate chips)

Some suitable chocolate products:

• Chocolate bar: Endangered Species Supreme Dark Chocolate 72%
• Chocolate bar: Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85% Cocao
• Chocolate bar note: I don’t suggest the Ghirardelli Chocolate Baking Bar 100% Cocoa because it’s a lot higher in saturated fat than the products I have recommended.
• Chocolate chunks (chips): 365 Dark Chocolate Mini Chunks 70% Cacoa (Whole Foods product)
  • Mini chunks (and chips) are less expensive than chocolate bars.

6  grams of chocolate is equal to…

• about 1 square of an Endangered Species Supreme Dark Chocolate 72% bar
• ½ square of a Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85% Cocao bar.
• 2 teaspoons of 365 Dark Chocolate Mini Chunks 70% Cocoa

½ teaspoon of cocoa

• I used the Lake Champlain All Natural Unsweetened Cocoa that I had on hand, but I’m sure that the Hershey’s Cocoa or Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa that most supermarkets carry would be fine, too.

¼ t canola oil

¼ t agave nectar

2 drops almond extract

• I used Penzeys Spices’ Pure Almond Extract

3 dried cherries

• For dried cherries, I love the Stoneridge Orchards Cherry Mix (whole dried Montmorency, Balaton, and Bing Cherry Blend) from Costco. These dried cherries are the best I’ve ever tasted and $8.99 for 20 ounces is also a great price. For more about these cherries, see the Monamifood blog entry, Cherries and Berries with Yogurt.

• Use the smaller cherries in this mix. They are sweet and slightly tart.

Directions

Follow the directions for the Ginger Cherry Chocolates above, substituting almond extract for the ground ginger.

Enjoy and be healthy!

- Leni

COCOA POWDER: Great Chocolate Nut Spread

Here’s a delicious healthy alternative to Nutella (the chocolate hazelnut nut spread imported from somewhere in Europe).

Nutella is made with, in order: sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (from milk), soy lecithin: an emulsifier, vanillin: an artificial flavor.  So even though it has cocoa in it, it has milk in it too; that’s strike one. And then there’s the modified palm oil and sugar; that’s strike two.

Now check out the ingredients in the following recipe…

THE BEST (and healthiest) CHOCOLATE NUT SPREAD

Ingredients

• ¼ cup almond butter (smooth, not chunky almond butter)
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder

You will see “cocoa” and “cacao” on product labels. Cocoa is English and cacao is French.

Look for cocoa in the baking section of your store or in specialty cooking supply stores.

Why Cocoa? How does cocoa help your body prevent cancer? Which cocoa is the best kind? How can you be sure to get all the benefits from the cocoa you consume?

• ½ teaspoon plus ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon of water, if needed, to make the spread a little more spreadable

Directions

Just put all of these ingredients into a small bowl and stir until fully blended.

What to do with this spread?

Spread on bread, whole grain rice cakes, etc.

Serve as a dip for a dessert with dried apricots and fresh apple slices

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni

CHOCOLATE: Chocolate Pieces & Dried Apricots with Fresh Rosemary

Recipe #1: CHOCOLATE PIECES AND DRIED APRICOTS WITH FRESH ROSEMARY

Ingredients

• 16 whole dried apricots

I used Trader Joe’s dried Turkish apricots because they’re a good size, very pliable, and a nice orange color. However, to preserve the color, apricots (and other dried fruit) are treated with sulfur dioxide. Some people are allergic to sulfur dioxide. For those people it’s definitely not safe; for the rest of us, it’s OK. For more on sulfur dioxide’s safety (and the safety of many other additives and preservatives in our food, see: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm .

• Enough sprigs of fresh rosemary to yield 48 rosemary needles
• 1 tin Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Wedges (70% cocoa), 3.5 ounces

Each 3.5-ounce tin contains 16 small wedges of delicious dark chocolate. In two wedges, there are only 70 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of saturated fat. There are 6 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of sugar. So it’s not high in sugar.

• for garnish: a few sprig of fresh rosemary (with needles on them) and a dozen or more fresh blueberries

Directions

• Slit each apricot down the center, leaving both halves attached, and spread the apricot halves out (so it looks like 2 discs attached in the center).
• On one half of each spread open apricot, place 3 rosemary needles ; close the apricot so it looks like a whole apricot with a few green needles peeking out.
• Assemble the dessert platter by alternating the stuffed apricots and the small wedges of dark chocolate.
• Scatter a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and some blueberries around the plate

I think you’ll agree this is a delicious and sophisticated dessert. It’s a great dish to take to a potluck!!!!

Recipe #2: DRIED APRICOTS STUFFED WITH FRESH ROSEMARY AND SHAVED CHOCOLATE

After returning from watching the new movie, Julia & Julia, I came home a little hungry and decided to indulge in a little healthy snack with what I had on hand: some apricots, rosemary and chocolate. But I made the recipe slightly differently this time.  So here’s Recipe #2 — which my husband and I actually prefer over recipe #1. You can easily try both recipes and see which one you like better!

Ingredients

• 16 whole dried apricots
• Enough sprigs of fresh rosemary to yield 48 rosemary needles
• 1 tin Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Wedges (70% cocoa), 3.5 ounces

Why Cocoa? How does cocoa help your body prevent cancer? Which cocoa is the best kind? How can you be sure to get all the benefits from the cocoa you consume?

• for garnish: a few sprig of fresh rosemary (with needles on them) and a dozen or more fresh blueberries

Directions

• Slit each apricot down the center, leaving both halves attached, and spread the apricot halves out (so it looks like 2 discs attached in the center). Set aside.
• Use a small sharp (but not serrated) knife to make chocolate shavings out of 6 of the wedges of chocolate. This is really easy. Just slide the knife down the long end of the chocolate wedge and you’ll get long slivers of chocolate — shavings.
• On one half of each spread open apricot, put 3 rosemary needles and chocolate shavings equal to about 1/3 of a wedge of the chocolate.  Close the apricot so it looks like a whole apricot with a few green needles peeking out.
• Assemble the dessert platter by alternating the stuffed apricots with the remaining small wedges of dark chocolate.
• Scatter a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and some blueberries around the plate.

I’ll be taking this dish to a potluck soon!!!!

Enjoy and be healthy,

Leni

P.S. Rosemary is an anti-cancer powerhouse in its own right. More on rosemary another day…