Pulled banana skin burgers with slaw

Bananas are the most-consumed fruit in the world, but we don’t use the skin as much as we could. I know a pulled banana skin burger sounds crazy, but trust me – it is truly delicious.

Pulled banana skin burgers with slaw. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 bananas
• Vegetable oil, for cooking
• 2 slices vegan burger cheese
• 2 vegan brioche buns
• BBQ sauce

Jerk seasoning

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds ground
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper ground
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Pinch cinnamon powder
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• Pinch ground cloves
• Salt to taste

Slaw

• ¼ red cabbage, shredded or finely sliced
• ¼ red onion, finely sliced
• 2 pickles, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp pickle liquid
• 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp vegan sour cream
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Wash the bananas thoroughly then peel. With a spoon, scrape out all the whites from the inside of the peel leaving you with just the colour of the peel. Hold one end of the peel and, using a fork, scrape from where you are holding it to the tip until it starts to shred and all starts to look like a pulled banana skin.
2. Place seasoning ingredients in a bowl with the oil and mix together. Add the banana skins and mix around until well coated.  Set aside to marinate while you make the slaw.
3. For the slaw, mix together the pickling liquid, mayo, sour cream and salt and pepper until well combined then add the shredded ingredients. Mix until coated then set aside.
4. In a pan on the stove on medium heat, add some oil and the banana skins. Add about 60 ml (3 tablespoons) water - this helps to not burn the skins.  They won’t need to cook for long.  Take them off the heat just as they start to break down, around 7 minutes (depending on ripeness). 
5. When they are just done, push the mixture to the centre, splitting into 2 piles, place a slice of  the cheese on top of each pile, throw in 20 ml (1 tablespoon) more water and place a lid on top of the saucepan to help melt the cheese. (Alternatively, you can just add the cheese to the warm peel mixture as you build the buns; the warmth of the banana peel mix will still melt the cheese a little.)
6. Toast the burger buns and lather some plant-based butter on the bottom halves. Pour on as much BBQ sauce as you like. Place the pulled banana peel with the cheese on top and add the slaw. Place on the top bun and enjoy!

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.