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Banana Bread

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Mom's Banana Bread

This delicious and simple banana bread is the timeless treat you want with your morning coffee, your afternoon tea, or just after dinner. It has a rightful place on my food blog because my mother made this recipe nearly every other Sunday growing up. There would always be a fresh loaf of banana bread in the house – her version has the golden raisins which is how I make it to this day. And it even freezes well! That’s right, throw a fresh (cooled) loaf in some plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to enjoy a few weeks later. That is, assuming there is any left. 😉

what you need

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup flour

2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3-4 ripe bananas, depending on size

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

(optional) 3/4 tablespoon orange zest

(optional) 3/4 cup golden raisins

(optional) 3/4 cup walnuts 

(optional) 3/4 cup chocolate chips of choice

how to make it

Heat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar using food processor or hand mixer. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat for another 30 seconds. Add bananas, mash them up, and stir until well combined. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel, and stir. Stir in flour and raisins/nuts/chips (if using) until just combined. 

Spoon into loaf pan, mini loaf pans, standard muffin tins, or mini muffin tins. Cooking times follow.

Standard loaf: 35-40 minutes (makes 1)

Mini loaves: 35-40 minutes (makes 4)

Standard muffins: 35-40 minutes (makes 12)

Mini muffins: 20-25 minutes (makes ~30)

Enjoy with tea or coffee!

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Sweet Coconut Cookie Snacks

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Sweet Coconut Cookie Snacks

Yo, LOVE is in the freaking AIR! It’s Valentine’s Day (or thereabouts) and I made treats / used it as an excuse to be a little extra (remember when I sprinkled the lemonade???). For✌🏼Day this year, I made homemade cereal (yes, you read that correctly), homemade peanut butter cups (because I have issued a blanket moratorium on seed oils in my house), and these adorable four ingredient cookie snacks that are kind of like those samosa Girl Scout cookies. Now before you go off on a V Day tangent, I would like to stress that these cookie snacks are my new go-to, Valentine’s Day aside. They are the perfect dessert. I mean perfect.✨ And they are super easy to make. If you have kids, I ultra recommend these as a dessert option. There is zero sugar as they are sweetened with dates.

💖💖💖

Now, on the homemade cereal side, I forget about once every three years that I do not enjoy self-torture and make the cutest homemade cereal, a la Molly Yeh (champion of all things cute and sprinkles). Is it worth it? Probably not. Do I forget this periodically? Absolutely I do. This year it made for great mailing gifts but, man, is it a lot of work. Hundreds of hand-cut, 1/4 inch hazelnut cookies. In the words of Charlie Brown, good grief.

what you need

(this makes 6-8 cookies)

1 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut <– these words matter

1 cup (~8) pitted, soft Medjool dates

1 tablespoon smooth almond butter

1 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips + 1 tablespoon coconut oil

(optional) 1 tablespoon honey

how to make it

  1. In the oven, toast the coconut shreds for ~5 minutes on 350, or until beautifully golden brown. 
  2. Use the food processor to process the dates until they are in smaller chunks. Add in the coconut and the honey, if using, and mix until a grainy “dough” forms. Using your hands, form 6-8 little discs, ~1/2 inch high, with the dough. Use a chopstick to poke a hole through the middle. 
  3. Plop the discs in the freezer. Yes, plop.
  4. On the stove, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a small saucepan or small double boiler (truth: I totally set a bowl on top of a pot with water in it.) 
  5. Once the chocolate is melted, remove cookies from freezer and dip the underside of each cookie in the chocolate, returning it to the plate with the chocolate side up.
  6. Return to freezer for ~30 minutes or until chocolate hardens completely. 

P.S. The homemade cereal contains: homemade hazelnut cookies, tiny amaretto meringues, toasted coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, and dried tart cherries. 

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Sweet

Plate Parfaits

one and a half slices greek yogurt parfait recipe cacao nibs
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The OneandahalfSlices Plate Parfait

There are several OneandahalfSlices signatures: The Signature Salad, The Signature Cocktail, Skillet Cornbread (and how OneandahalfSlices got its name). This indispensable Plate Parfait is definitely a signature for the list.

For whomever has rushed into OneandahalfSlices headquarters (aka my house) mid-afternoon after eight hours at the office and claimed to be starving (you know who you are)… For whomever has woken up at HQ in the morning with only 10 minutes to spare… You have probably been served a OneandahalfSlices Plate Parfait. What is a Plate Parfait? Well… it’s a Greek Yogurt Parfait… on a plate.

It is high in protein, low in fat, great for gut health, and deliciously satisfying at almost any time of day. The go-to breakfast. The I’m Starving snack. The dessert when you really want ice cream but don’t need the sugar.

#equalpartsdisciplineandindulgence 

what you need to know

There is really no incorrect way to make a plate parfait.

Below are the ingredients I use and an example of the assembly.

one and a half slices greek yogurt parfait recipe cacao nibs
  1. berries. strawbs, blackberries, pomegranate seeds, or finely diced peaches and apples are my fruits-of-choice.
  2. nut butter. almond, walnut, sunflower, peanut, thin enough to drizzle.
  3. greek yogurt. no fat or full fat; loving my Skyr recently from Iceland.
  4. granola. homemade granola or my gluten-free amaranth granola.
  5. honey. make sure it is local. did you know that eating local unpasteurized honey can help you build tolerance to local pollens which makes allergy season less dramatic?
  6. flax seeds. for fiber and digestion.
  7. chia seeds. for antioxidants.
  8. cacao nibs. for antioxidants, mood, and immunity.

Now that you’ve got all your favs, go ahead and use a spoon to spread that thick greek yogurt onto a plate using a circular motion. Drizzle with honey and a little cinnamon if you’re feeling fancy. Then pile your fruit high in the center, drizzling the whole ordeal with your nut butter. Now it’s time to sprinkle: granola (no more than 2-3 tablespoons), chia, flax, and cacao. A little toasted fresh coconut can go a long way here as well. Ooh, and toasted chopped hazelnuts (life changing)! But you get the picture. Improv is the main game here with the Plate Parfait. 

🍓🌰🍎

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Happy Christmas 2022

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Happy Christmas 2022

and a Rice Krispie Treat with #holidayvibes

If you worked for me, with me, or with Merigold Analytics in 2022, chances are you got one of these in early December. These little boxes are filled with the stuff dreams are made of – stickers, marshmallows, and Oreo cookies. This Christmas season, OneandahalfSlices made layered rice krispies stuffed with Oreo, Biscoff, Graham, candy cane, and many, many, tiny marshmallows. We celebrated Christmas this year bouncing between Arlington, Virginia, Georgetown, DC, and Melbourne, FL. We cheersed at the Four Seasons and set to work tying yellow ribbon around tiny take-out boxes. However you choose to be festive this year, I hope it includes a OneandahalfSlices recipe or two. Here are a few words of wisdom and 2022 in review in case you need suggestions.

Favs of the year (that got made over and over and over):

chimi (for steak or fish)

borek (for brunch)

paper plane (for libation)

crab avocado toast (for brunch)

signature salad (for weeknight)

tira (for special occasion)

katsu ramen (for the baby love)

fettuccine (for Sunday)

madeleines (for anytime)

I’d give you guys the recipe for Rice Krispie treats but it’s so stupid easy it hardly warrants a post. Melt 3 tablespoons of salted butter with most of one bag of mini marshmallows. Stir it constantly and once it bubbles, add six cups of rice krispie cereal along with the remaining marshmallows, mix, and spoon into a 9×13 pan. Let cool.

Eat the whole pan at once. 

I made variations of the theme of rice krispie treats this year for every customer demo, every large engineering meeting, and, yes, the OneandahalfSlices Christmas presents. The message for this holiday seasons is simple:

never bake without libation

love on your analysts and engineers 

measure less and live more

whatever you do, love your day

See you all next year. 

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Veggie

Shishito Peppers

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OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Roasted Shishito Peppers

one and a half slices shishito peppers recipe local

This is my new favorite summer appetizer. I cannot believe my CSA (shoutout to Potomac Vegetable Farm) has had fresh, local shishito peppers almost every spring/summer week for two years and I did not know how to prepare them! This really is the simplest party appetizer you could possible make. And SO salty and delicious, with excellent flavor. They aren’t spicy unless you want them to be! A friend recently told me that Shishito Peppers, a Japanese varietal, aren’t naturally spicy but sometimes end up that way in the US because we tend to plant them close to other hot pepper varietals. The natural shishito is sweet and earthy with very delicate flesh.  

what you need

Desired amount of fresh shishito peppers. Both green and red are good. 

Salt to taste

Cayenne pepper (for spicy) or Paprika (for not spicy)

Good olive oil

how to make it

Heat oven to 450

Toss shishito peppers in olive oil, salt, and paprika or cayenne

Lay out peppers on a pan and roast until they begin to brown

Remove from oven and poke 1-2 holes in each pepper with a sharp knife so they deflate

Serve HOT!

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argentinian empanada recipe authentic argentine oneandahalfslices

Empanadas

There are many varieties but a recipe for specifically Argentinian empanadas is difficult to find – especially in English and out of the metric system. Often served as an appetizer, empanadas are hearty little handpies that can suffice as a meal alone and their flexible filling options (savory or sweet) make them perfect for just about any occasion. Argentina will always be a special place for me. So here is the elusive no-one-writes-this-shit-down family recipe.

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January 3, 2021 4 Comments
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Brussels Sprouts Salad

For those who think you don’t like Brussels Sprouts, pause… let’s see what happens to them when we add a decent flavor profile. This healthy, clean salad is crunchy, flavorful, and interesting all in one bite. It’s fresh like summer, crisp like springtime, and full of fall and winter flavors. A perfect snack, app, or dinner if eating light. Makes me think that maybe some Instagram Reels are worth watching…

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January 16, 2022 2 Comments
one and a half slices ham and melon cantaloupe recipe summer

Jamon con Melon

This is the simplest of appetizers. Elegant and perfectly balanced. Sweet and Salty. aka Melon Carpaccio. #summervibes

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September 17, 2022 No Comments
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Veggie

Peach Caprese

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Peach Caprese Salad

This is a continuation of my summer eats ‘glorified snack dinners’ (see Watermelon Feta Salad). For when the summer months take hold, the cicadas ring true, and the humidity is as thick and sticky as fresh Florida honey against a sunset sky, you need something super fresh! During these months, my CSA tends to have all-you-can-take tomatoes, which the Piemaker and I willingly turn into tomato-soup-and-grilled-cheese-movie-marathons (see Roasted Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese recipes. All you need for this recipe is one of those tomatoes and a handful of garden basil. I fancy it up a bit here with a sweet nectarine and some unnecessary accoutrement, but it does not disappoint as an appetizer, snack, or full summertime dinner plate.   

what you need

1 fresh peach or nectarine

1 heirloom tomato

a handful of basil leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 round of fresh mozzarella cheese

salt, pepper, lemon zest 

how to make it

Slice peach and tomato into thick slices. Peel mozzarella and layer over the top of the tomatoes and peaches. Drizzle with olive oil and top with a sprinkle of salt black pepper, and lemon zest. Top each mound delicately with a piece of basil and serve. 

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Sweet

Granola

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Granola

A good granola is difficult to find and expensive when you do find it. It is also full of preservatives and overly sweet, usually with added sugars. Making your own granola is easier than you might think and a great way to ensure you get granola exactly as you like it… whichever nuts, whatever fruit, and resolution to the endless honey-versus-maple-syrup-debate. Serve over Greek Yogurt with a few slices of fresh fruit or make yourself a OneandahalfSlices signature Plate Parfait. A batch of granola will keep for 1-2 weeks in your pantry and quickly replace bagged granolas and cereal forever. And if you really want to have fun, try my gluten-free Amaranth Granola.

what you need

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

2 cups puffed kamut (I find puffed kamut makes the granola overall lighter, but if you don’t have any, just use 4 cups of rolled oats)

2 cups of nuts/seeds of choice, coarsely chopped (pecans, walnuts, almonds, pepitas | pictured here is 1 1/2 cups pecans and 1/2 cup pepitas)

3/4 cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes

3/4 cup lightly melted coconut oil

1/2-3/4 cup maple syrup or honey 

Spices: cinnamon (be generous), nutmeg, turmeric, salt, 1 tablespoon vanilla (optional)

(optional) 3/4 cup dried fruit such as cranberries, blueberries, or golden raisins

(optional) 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Note: I use coconut oil because it is slightly sweeter. Your other options are butter/ghee (makes granola buttery), or olive oil (makes granola a bit more savory). Any of the three will work.

how to make it

Preheat oven to 300. Mix rolled oats, puffed kamut (if using), nuts/seeds, and coconut in a large mixing bowl. Stir until combined, then add spices on top.

Be generous with the cinnamon (several tablespoons), sparing with the nutmeg, add a pinch of salt, and use the turmeric only if it suits you. I feel it lends an unexpected exoticism to the spice profile, but to each his own. A dash of dried ginger would likely accomplish the same thing. 

Melt the coconut oil in a bowl (note: it will melt in the microwave in about 10 seconds, and then begin to spit, spat, and fizzle noisily. Do not over-microwave). 

Add the coconut oil and maple syrup to the dry ingredients and stir gently until all the grains are completely coated. 

Spread granola evenly on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and stir, pressing the granola down lightly afterwards. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Granola should be toasted golden (the coconut and nuts will brown) but still wet. 

Remove from the oven and cool completely (about 20 minutes). Mix in dried fruit and chocolate chips (if using). The granola will keep for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container. 
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Biscuits

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Basic Flaky Biscuits

My biscuit philosophy (because everyone has a biscuit philosophy, right?) is similar to my chili philosophy. Don’t try to make it fancy; just make it good. Well, these are good. No wait, really good. Flaky, buttery, salty perfection. 

I understand there to be about as much controversy over biscuits as there is over chili. Lots of different preferences and lots of this-is-how-my-grandmother-used-to-make-it lore. There is the traditionally Southern “cathead” biscuit; a dense biscuit made with buttermilk. Then there are drop biscuits, flakier styles, and dumplings. The American conceptualization of the biscuit dates back to the late 19th century, though the original biscuit came to being in the UK and first appeared in North America in a variation on the theme of biscuits and gravy.  

My personal preference is for super flaky, crispy-topped biscuits. In other words, not the cathead style. This recipe satisfies. Biscuits are not difficult to make, though they require  technique that, once mastered, becomes foolproof.

Makes around a half dozen biscuits. 

what you need

2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold, salted butter

1 cup whole milk, very cold

(You can go through the trouble to purchase or make buttermilk if you wish, but I don’t personally find it necessary. To make buttermilk, simply let a cup of milk come to room temperature, then add a squeeze of lemon juice or a tablespoon of white or rice wine vinegar and let stand for a couple of hours. The acid will start to ferment the milk… buttermilk).

how to make it

Biscuits are not difficult.

They simply require a little technique.

  1. Keep cold ingredients cold. Like really cold.
  2. Do not overwork the dough.
  3. Do not ‘seal’ the biscuit when cutting.

Preheat oven to 425. 

Sift or mix together all dry ingredients. Dice butter and add to dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter (I use a fork). Or place it all in a food processor and pulse until pea-sized chunks remain.

The butter must be kept extremely cold! A friend once advised freezing the butter and grating it into the flour using a cheese grater. Works well.

Add the milk and combine until the dough just holds together (and no further). Again, you can do this with a fork, a spatula, or a food processor, but do not overmix this dough. 

Turn the dough out onto a surface with some flour and mold into a lumpy, shaggy pat (technical term). To create the flakes, you need to fold the dough over on itself several times, without overworking and without smashing it down too hard. You also want to do this quickly as your hands will begin to warm the butter – this will cause the dough to become easier to work with over time but you are making your biscuits more dense in the process. So, fold the dough on itself 5 or 6 times, pushing down lightly after each fold.

Press into pat and cut biscuits using a round cookie cutter or (my method) a glass cup. Do not twist the cup as you press down to cut the biscuit as this will ‘seal’ the sides and prevent the biscuit from rising. Press straight down and bring straight back up. If you prefer drop biscuits, you can do that as well.

Cook biscuits for ~15 minutes until golden brown. Observe the seraphic rise of the layers upon layers of glorious flakes that you have crafted, and serve with the liquid citrine nectar of the Gods that is local to your area – honey (in my case, orange blossom).  

🍯🍊
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