Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

When vegetables are in-season, buy them fresh and ripe. “Off-season,” frozen vegetables will give you a high concentration of nutrients. Choose packages marked with a USDA “U.S. Fancy” shield, which designates produce of the best size, shape and color; vegetables of this standard also tend to be more nutrient-rich than the lower grades “U.S. No. 1″ or “U.S. No. 2.” Eat them soon after purchase: over many months, nutrients in frozen vegetables do inevitably degrade. Finally, steam or microwave rather than boil your produce to minimize the loss of water-soluble vitamins.

Source: Fresh vs Frozen Vegetables

FYI: Clarence Birdseye is considered the founder of the frozen food industry. See: Clarence Birdseye: Father of Frozen Food.

This is one recipe that will challenge the A.D.D.er. who has little or no cooking skills. However, the results - a hot banana-chocolate filling - are worth every bit of frustration especially when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The main challenge lies in working with Phyllo (a/k/a, Fillo) dough, a paper thin dough that tears easily when you are brushing oil on it, or folding it, or just taking it out of the package. If using this dough is new to you then expect to make lousy looking turnovers.¹ However practice does make perfect.

INGREDIENTS

• Two bananas - ripe to very ripe
• 2 tsps lemon juice
• 2 tsps sugar (if the bananas are very ripe…skip the sugar)
• 6 oz chocolate chips
• Fillo (a/k/a, Phyllo) Dough No. 4 (The Apollo Brand® of Phyllo dough specifies thickness with numbers. The higher the number the thicker the dough.)
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Cinnamon
• Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil

EQUIPMENT

• Two baking sheets
• Sharp knife (not a serrated knife).
• Pastry brush
• Small container - like a large measuring cup- to hold oil
• Pastry sheet or other large cutting surface
• Flour sifter (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Take your two baking sheets and brush some oil on them. Put them aside…you’ll need them in a few minutes.
2. Cut up the bananas, add sugar (remember, sugar is optional) and lemon juice and mash it up in a bowl. When done, mix in chocolate chips.



The banana-chocolate mixture. It’s okay to lick the bowl. There are no raw ingredients to get you sick.

3. Take four sheets of phyllo dough placing one sheet on top of the other.



Phyllo dough comes rolled up like this. Image comes from Cooking Thesaurus.

4. Cut it down the middle so you have two long pieces (each is composed of four layers).



Ready to be folded into a triangle.

5. Hold the sheets down at one end and use the pastry brush to brush oil on the dough. The brush should move only in one direction, namely, away from your hand.²
6. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the banana-chocolate mixture onto the dough.
7. Take the lower right corner of the dough and fold it towards the left side so you end up with a triangle. Keep folding this triangle one end over the other.
8. On the now folded pastry, brush a bit of oil on both sides and place on your cooking sheet.
9. Sift or sprinkle confectioner’s sugar. (I did not use a sifter…hence the little lumps of sugar. Sifting is better but adds yet another item to “the mess.”)
10. Sprinkle on some cinnamon.



Ready to go in the oven.

11. Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 F degrees or until it turns golden brown.
12. After removing from oven, give it at least five minutes to cool down. The filling stays hot for some time.

VARIATIONS

1. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
2. You can substitute apple pie filling for the banana-chocolate mixture.

NOTES ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS USED

1. Phyllo Dough: you can usually purchase pre-made phyllo dough in a good supermarket. There are variations of this dough which is why I specified “No. 4.” See: Athens Pastries Website
2. Lots of information on phyllo dough can be found here.

PREPARING FOR A PARTY

The recipe will make approximately ten turnovers. However, everyone will want at least two of them so you may need to make a large quantity. Simply increase the quantities accordingly (double the ingredients for twenty turnovers, etc.)

If you are doing a lot of other cooking, you can make the turnovers beforehand, leaving the baking as the last step to be done. I had once created thirty turnovers early one morning, placed them on the baking sheets, wrapped them with clear wrap and placed them in the refrigerator. After my dinner party, I fired up the oven, removed the wrap and made the turnovers.

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1. They will still taste great…they just won’t look good. [↩]
2. You could brush each individual sheet if you were a glutton for punishment…but it is not absolutely necessary to do so. [↩]

To add some more nutritional value to your hot dog (which should ALREADY be smothered in mustard and sauerkraut), add a slice or two of swiss cheese on top. Then place it in a preheated oven (250 degrees F. is fine) and keep an eye on it to make sure that it melts.

Chocolate chip pancakes are extraordinarily easy to make and healthy too. (See my Chocolate Zucchini Bread posting for the health benefits of chocolate chips.) It’s the perfect food that combines the essential building blocks of life: pancakes, eggs, milk and chocolate.

I start with a box of Aunt Jemima® Original Pancake Mix and Nestle’s® Chocolate Chips. The quantities of milk, eggs, etc. is dependent on the amount of pancakes you intend to make. Follow the instructions on the back of the box.

INGREDIENTS (See back of pancake box for exact quantities)

1 box of pancake mix
Milk (Whole milk or skim)
Eggs
Vegetable Oil
1 package of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Heat up a griddle while mixing the batter according to the directions on the back of the box. Add one or two handfuls of the chips to the batter. Use a soup ladle to pour out the batter onto the griddle. Carefully note the texture of the just poured batter. When it starts to look a bit dry (there will also be bubbles in the pancake) it is time to turn it over. You can use a spatula to peak underneath to see if the pancake is golden brown and ready to be flipped over. When both sides are brown…that pancake is done.

Since it is more than likely that you can only cook a few pancakes at a time, you might want to stack them on a warm plate. To increase the health benefits of this breakfast I like to put additional chocolate chips between each pancake in the stack.

VARIATIONS

1. Add a mashed banana to the pancake batter. Remember: the riper the banana the sweeter the banana.
   (See Eat More Bananas for banana fun facts, history and recipes.)
2. Serve with whipped cream on top of the pancakes.

[Nutrition information added on Sept. 22, 2007]
[Variations added on Dec. 11, 2007]

You’ve got your vegetable garden and found that the zucchini is growing like mad. What better way to use up your surplus zucchini than by making chocolate zucchini bread. From a nutrition standpoint, it’s a home run. It has zucchini - a known vegetable - and vegetables are good for you. It has chocolate - known to be derived from beans - and beans are good for you. So in terms of “health food,” chocolate zucchini bread has it all.

INGREDIENTS

* 3 eggs
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2 cups grated zucchini
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans (PAM spray works fine…and lightly flouring the inside of the greased pan doesn’t hurt).
2. In a large bowl combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini and vanilla. Beat well. Stir in the flour (you might want to sift it in), baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips and then pour the batter into the greased loaf pans.
3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick which, when pulled out, should be clean. Since there is melted chocolate in there, you’ll need to poke the loaf in a few different places till you get only batter as opposed to chocolate.
4. When done let it cool for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes you’ll then be able to get it out of the loaf pan. Then let it thoroughly cool. When completed cooled you can wrap it in aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Right after removing it from the loaf pan, it is still warm. This is the OPTIMAL time to cut a few slices for yourself just to make sure that you cooked it correctly.

See this comment at Experiencing ADDvantages.

[post was retitled on Sept. 22, 2007. Original title: “Chocolate Zucchini Bread”]

[Nutrition information added on Sept. 22, 2007]

Q: My zucchini bread turns brown on the outside but it does not cook through the middle. Any idea why this happens?

Ans: There is no reason why it should not cook through. If the outside is browning and the inside is not cooking, the problem might be that the temperature is too high. You may want to get an oven thermometer. In addition, if you have a very old oven (I had a 50 year old oven) it may not be heating evenly. That can also cause uneven cooking.

[Information above added on Sept. 22, 2007 in response to an email request]