Quick & Simple

Daniel is one of those kids who raises his hand in class before the teacher finishes asking the question. And because in last night’s scenario I was the teacher, I called on him. As I watched him stutter and grin and twist in his chair, I remembered a kid from my own third grade class who was was the same way and how when I was eight years old, this annoyed me. But as Daniel repeatedly ummed and as the other kids in the classroom wiggled their hands in the air, I admired his gumption.

Sure he hadn’t heard the question, and sure, even if he had, maybe he wouldn’t have known that washing your hands is the first thing a cook does in the kitchen, but he was eager—an aspiring teacher’s pet. I respect that in a child. And you can bet when it was time to press almonds into the pretty banana almond moon cakes that we made in honor of the Chinese New Year, little Daniel was right there pressing them in too hard and too lopsided and I was next to him beaming while he did it.

“WE WANY YOUR LO-CAL RECIPES!” CONTEST

The Rules: Have a great recipe for a dish that tastes divine but doesn’t go straight to your thighs? Do share! It can be an entree, breakfast food, snack, dessert — any kind of food, as long as it’s light.

The Prize: Our first-place winner will win a cooking gift set from World Kitchen worth a total of $880.

The Entry: The “appearance doesn’t matter when you’ve got flavor & half the fat” Banana Almond Moon Cakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 egg whites
1/2 cup mashed banana
30 whole almonds

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Mix flour and baking powder in an electric mixing bowl. Blend in the butter and the sugar until the mixture resembles flakey meal. Stir in the almond extract, the egg whites and the mashed banana to form the mixture into a soft dough.

Keeping the dough in the bowl, carefully reach in and fold the dough over on itself several times until it just holds together in one cohesive ball. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour. Form the dough into balls, each the size of a whole almond and flatten with the palm of the hand to form cakes 3/4 inch thick. Arrange cakes on floured sheet (at least 2” apart because they will spread) and press an almond into center of each cake.

Bake cakes in the middle of a preheated 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 300°F. and bake the cakes for 5 to 7 minutes more, or until they are light golden brown around the edges.

Yield: 30 cakes