The New Normal

When the pandemic hit in 2020, I found myself getting worried and stressed out about stuff that never used to bother me. I’m sure this was the case with most of us, as we were all trying to adapt quickly to the new normal of social distancing, curbside pickup, working from home, washing hands with soap 20 seconds at a time 20 times a day, disinfecting groceries, you name it! I never used to stress out about going to a grocery store, or meal planning and prepping. Since I don’t cook more than two meals at a time, I found it very difficult to wrap my head around this concept of prepping many meals. Getting groceries and planning meals consumes so much time and energy!

Grocery Closed Temporarily 

In general, I make one or two trips a month to our neighborhood Indian grocery store. With the stay at home orders and with most businesses being closed, I wasn’t sure if they were open. So, I called several times, but there was no answer. I checked their website next and saw a message that said they were closed for the next few days on account of corona virus. About 10 days later I finally saw the message that they were open. Yay!

 

Curbside Pickup

Because of the restrictions and uncertainty with the pandemic, the store was only doing curbside pickup. They had all the vegetables I needed, but the minimum order was $30. So, I checked out the lentils and snacks section to see if there was other stuff I could add, to make up the minimum order. All the other sections on the menu was showing that no items were available. I cursed my luck and ended up ordering $30 worth of vegetables and here’s what I got: 1 dozen green bananas/plantains, 2 pounds of eggplants, 2 pounds of okra, 1 pound green chili peppers, 1 pound opo squash, 2 pounds of tindora and 3 lemons.

Rinsed and dried veggies

My Curbside Vegetable Pickup

What I Did With These Veggies

Well, I ended up freezing most of the chili peppers. I normally wash them, remove the stalks and dry them out on my kitchen counter before refrigerating them. This time I went a step further, set them in an airtight container and stored them in the freezer I’m positive I’ll not run out of chili peppers for at least 6 months! I got 4 meals out of the eggplant and 4 out of the okra and stored them in the freezer. The tindora and lemons are still in the fridge, along with the opo squash and I expect to use them over the next few days.

Freezing Indian Chili Pepper

The Green Banana/Plantain Challenge

Baked raw banana chips

Nuggets ready for freezing

Especially challenging was the raw/green banana. I normally get one raw banana from the store (about once a month) and make nuggets. On an average, I get about 14 nuggets out of each raw banana. So out of 12 raw bananas I would be eating nuggets every day for about 3 weeks!  I wasn’t sure that I wanted to eat so many nuggets. I decided to work on other recipes with this vegetable.

Baked Chips & Frozen Nuggets

I lucked out with a baked plantain chips recipe which took me only a couple of tries, so that worked out great. I also realized for the first time that I could freeze nuggets and that was a real winner! So, in the end everything turned out great and I did not waste anything.

Banana-Potato Sauté

With a very short ingredient list and a total cook time of under 25 minutes, this would qualify for one of our simplest and most delicious recipes. You can have it as a snack between meals, as an appetizer, have it with hot rotis, as a filling in your taco, as a pizza topping, or with steamed brown rice and organic ghee.

 

Check out our other green banana/plantain recipes:

 

Also check out some of our delicious sautéed veggie recipes:

 

Why Is This Healthy?

Nutritionally, raw plantain is a great source of fiber, vitamins and minerals, and contains a resistant starch that helps control blood sugar, manage weight and lower blood cholesterol levels.

 

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Banana-Potato Sauté

This flavorful, vegan green banana and potato sauté is loaded with fiber and resistant starch! Enjoy it as a snack between meals, as an appetizer, have it with hot rotis, as a filling in your taco, as a pizza topping, or with steamed brown rice and organic ghee.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Cayenne Pepper, Coconut oil, Mustard Seeds, Onion, Potato, Raw Banana, Raw plantain, Red Chili Powder
Special Diet Gluten Free, Grain Free, No Added Sugar, Nut Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 142kcal

Ingredients

  • 3/4 Pound Raw Banana - (Or plantain) Peeled, cubed into 1" pieces
  • 1/4 Pound Potato - Peeled, cubed into 1" pieces
  • 1/4 Cup Onion - Fine cut
  • 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder - Or cayenne pepper- to taste
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt - Or to taste
  • 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil

Instructions

  • Wash, drain, peel and cut green banana and potatoes. Chop onions
  • Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Add mustard seeds. Allow them to crackle. Add banana, onion and potato to pan. Add salt and mix well.
  • Set lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove lid, mix well and set lid again. Cook till the contents soften (for about 10 minutes total).
  • Now remove lid, add red chili powder, stir well and cook for a couple of minutes. Serve!

Notes

Great as an appetizer, snack, pizza topping, taco filling, with hot rotis or steamed brown rice with organic ghee. 
*Use organic ingredients wherever possible

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Banana-Potato Sauté
Serving Size
 
150 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
142
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
4
g
6
%
Saturated Fat
 
3
g
19
%
Sodium
 
299
mg
13
%
Potassium
 
449
mg
13
%
Carbohydrates
 
28
g
9
%
Fiber
 
2
g
8
%
Sugar
 
13
g
14
%
Protein
 
1
g
2
%
Vitamin A
 
1033
IU
21
%
Vitamin C
 
16
mg
19
%
Calcium
 
8
mg
1
%
Iron
 
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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