The Long Awaited "Special" Banana Bread Recipe

I know that Thanksgiving at this point was one week ago, and I'm sure that everyone, like me, had leftovers. Some were easier to dispose of than others. I got stuck with 4 large egg whites from making holandaise sauce. I absolutely HATE throwing away food. In fact, I feel that it's sacrilegious! So there I was on Sunday morning trying to figure out what the heck to do with my container of egg whites? I searched the internet but didn't like any of the options. I didn't feel like making macaroons, didn't want an egg white omelette and certainly didn't want to make lemon meringue pie. So I decided I'd experiment because cooking is like a science project, isn't it? I had 2 frozen very ripe bananas in the freezer and a ripe banana in a bowl. So I looked up a recipe for Banana Bread and these are the ingredients I got:

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

I am not one to follow the instructions or measurements religiously while cooking, so I smashed up the bananas, and added one whole egg, sugar, butter, salt, baking soda, vanilla, pinch of salt and mixed it all. Then I addedthe flour (using half whole wheat flour and half white flour), measuring everything by eye. Separately, I threw the egg whites in the mixer, and mixed them until they were white and thick. After combining all of the ingredients, I scooped in the egg white and then did what I've seen done many times on the TV. I folded* the egg whites into the banana bread mixture. I then poured this mixture into a bread baking dish, with a piece of parchment paper covering it so that the mixture wouldn't stick. And I stuck it in the preheated oven at 350· F (170· C) for about 30 minutes.

* fold in, Cookery. to mix in or add (an ingredient) by gently turning one part over another: Fold in the egg whites.

As you can see in the pictures, it came out nice and fluffy and has been a wonderful breakfast all week long! Side note, and I learned this from my sister, to heat up bread without ruining it, dampen a piece of kitchen towel and cover the bread with the damp paper. Be careful not to overheat it or it'll ruin the bread! Just heat it for about 20-30 seconds depending on the potency of your microwave!

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe. And remember, never throw out food! There is always something that you can do with leftovers. And as a last resort when you don't know to do with something, just freeze it until you get a great idea! Good luck!