Shredded banana peels make a perfect meat substitute, and when cooked up with the right seasonings they make incredible enchiladas! Waste less and eat well.
Did you know you could eat the banana peel? On top of that, did you know it could taste good? What’s more, they’re really good for you too! Now, I’m definitely not suggesting you eat the peel straight off the banana, though you could, I’m sure this doesn’t taste very well. The good news is, I’ve figured out how to make them so good I keep wanting more!
A few weeks ago, I saw one of those quick cooking videos for banana peel barbecue pulled “pork.” I’d never known or thought of using banana peel before, and as soon as I saw it my brain went wild with excitement! So many things I suddenly wanted to try. These enchiladas were one of them, and I must say, they came out good!
I already do enchiladas like this using jackfruit, but I have a lot of jackfruit on the blog, and I know there are quite a few recipes for jackfruit carnitas, so I’d been wanting to use something else. I planned on trying shredded mushrooms. I’ve used mushrooms before for barbecue pulled “pork,” and they turned out super yummy, the only downfall is, it takes a LOT of mushrooms, and it can get pricey. When I realized you could use banana peels the same way I knew this was something I wanted to try.
Bananas are cheap, and the peel we usually throw away. You may be thinking, “But I don’t typically eat eight bananas at a time,” and this is probably especially true while you’re preparing dinner. Spoiled appetite much? However, I’ve found a great solution to this. Freeze them! I’d say 80 percent of the bananas I eat I frozen and blended into a smoothie. I do this pretty regularly.
I’ve also used frozen bananas for overnight oats. I defrost them and then blend them into my almond milk before stirring in my oats. Frozen bananas, once defrosted, are also a great egg substitute in baked goods such as cookies, cakes, and muffins.
What bananas to choose. I try to find bananas which contain little green or black spots. Kind of so they’re perfectly ripe. A little bit in either direction is fine, but it will affect your cooking time. A banana which is slightly green, you will need to cook longer and banana which has already been ripe a couple of days with cook faster. If they’re too green, they’ll end up a little tough, and if they’re too ripe they may turn out too sweet or even mushy, so make sure to pick your bananas consciously.
Once you have your bananas, you will remove the bananas from the peel, set aside the fruit, and cut off both ends. Next, use a spoon to scrape out the flesh from the inside of the peel and discard. To shred, simply take a fork, pierce the skin, and drag it down.
When your peels are completely shredded, chop them roughly with a knife, breaking down each piece into about three or four shorter pieces. Transfer the peels to a bowl a toss them with the seasonings.
The banana peels you’ll want to let sit for a minute while you cook up some diced onion and garlic. When your onions are thoroughly cooked, you add the peels to the skillet, stir, and cook on medium for five minutes. Unless already soft (taste a little strip to see), you will then cover the skillet with a lid, turn the heat to medium-low, and leave them for two minutes. Now they should be soft, but if not, continue to cook, tasting here and there, until they are.
After the peels have softened, you can prepare your enchiladas. You’ll need to fry each of the tortillas and roll them up with red enchilada sauce, the banana peels, black olive slices, some “cheese,” and then a little more sauce. As you roll them, you’ll lay them out in a baking dish which has some sauce spread on the bottom. Once they’re all rolled up, you need to brush more sauce on top, sprinkle with cheese, cover the dish with foil, and bake. I pull off the foil during the last five minutes of baking, bringing it to a total cooking time of 25 minutes for the enchiladas.
Before I go on again about how delicious these enchiladas are (I know, I’m super humble, right?! LOL! In person I swear I really am!), let’s back up for just a moment and talk about the cheese. For these, I use Smoked Mozzarella from Good Planet Foods, who I didn’t even know about until last month!
If you read my Instagram, you know I was just at the Pizza Expo in Vegas. I was AMAZED and super pleased with all the vegan vendors there! That is where I discovered Good Planet. They were super nice and provided samples of their delicious cheese, made from coconut oil, as well as slices of pizza to try. I fell in love with the smoked mozzarella, and I totally lucked out because they sent me home with a bag!
Of course, I realize this brand may not be available to everyone, and if that’s the case, I’ve left it open for you to choose your own “cheese.” Any regular vegan mozzarella is good with these as well; some of you may even prefer cheddar, or better yet, a Mexican blend which I know I’ve seen by a couple of different brands out there. If you’re looking for a non-processed vegan cheese, I suggest using my Fresh Almond Mozzarella, which I use in my Vegano Verde Jackfruit Enchiladas.
OK, cheese talk is done, now let me get back to the how good these enchiladas are. I’m not lying; I keep craving more of them. I’m making them again tomorrow because I just can’t get enough! Part of it too is that I’m so amazed at using the banana peels! On the one hand, I’m so bummed I’ve been throwing them out for so long, but on the other hand, I’m excited to have a new medium to work with — and you can bet I’ll be sharing more recipes using them in the future!
Thanks for letting me babble, I probably don’t say that enough. I may have written more this time too because I was extra excited. Even with all the babbling, I failed to mention all the nutrients loaded into the banana peels, and how they’re eaten in other countries, just not so much here in the west. If you want to learn more, I suggest doing a google search. I found it to be quite interesting.
Please let me know what you think! Leave me a comment below, or take a picture of your Banana Peel “Carnitas” Enchiladas and tag me on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.
Banana Peel “Carnitas” Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 8 yellow bananas, rinsed well try to find the most yellow bananas without any green and little to no black spots
- 8 – 10 corn tortillas
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cups diced white onion
- 1 Tbsp garlic
- 1 orange, juice from (about 3 – 4 Tbsp of juice)
- 2 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
- 1 1/4 cups (approximately) red enchilada sauce ensure vegan, as well as gluten or soy free, if necessary
- 1 1/2 cups (approximately) Good Planet Dairy-Free Smoked Mozzarella, or vegan cheese shreds of choice you can instead try my Fresh Almond Mozzarella to avoid using processed foods
- 3.8 oz can sliced black olives, drained (you won’t use them all)
- handful cilantro, chopped
Carnitas spice mix…
- 3/4 tsp chili powder
- 3/4 tsp chipotle powder
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cumin
- pinch cinnamon
Instructions
- Cut off both ends of each banana. Remove the fruit from the peels and set aside (I freeze mine to later use in smoothies). Using a spoon, scrape the flesh off the inside of each banana peel. Next, use a fork to shred the peels into thin slices.
- Take your pile of shredded banana peels and chop them a few times, so the long shreds are now in about three pieces, each an inch or two long.
- Transfer shredded peels to a mixing bowl. Add the spice blend and toss until peels are well coated. Set bowl aside.
- Melt the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes, then add the garlic.
- Once the onions are translucent, add the banana peels, orange juice, and maple syrup to the skillet. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Unless banana peels have softened (taste one to see), cover the skillet, turn heat to medium-low, and leave for two minutes. After two minutes you can taste another peel. By now they should be soft, and you can turn off the heat. If still tough, continue to cook, covered, until soft. Stir in the cilantro.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly oil a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and spread the bottom with about 2 tablespoons of sauce.
- Heat a tortilla in a skillet with a little oil over medium-high, about 30 seconds on each side, or until soft. Once tortilla is soft, transfer it to the baking dish. Spread about a teaspoon of sauce in the middle of the tortilla, then add some banana peels, black olives, cheese, and then a little more sauce. Wrap tortilla and fasten with a toothpick. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding a little more oil to the skillet as needed, about every three tortillas.
- Brush the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and then sprinkle with cheese (or spread, rather, if you’re using my Fresh Almond Mozzarella). Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Let sit about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!