Health Hotline Magazine | August 2021

Makes: 4 | Prep time: 15 minutes Gri time: 8-10 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes V E G A N Gri ed Banana Splits

Grilling brings out the sweetness of fruit and adds a subtle smokiness for a fun twist on a classic banana split. Instead of the traditional vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream, we’ve opted for dairy-free vanilla ice cream topped with grilled strawberries and pineapple and a homemade dairy-free hot fudge sauce.

INGREDIENTS For the dairy-free hot fudge sauce • ¼ cup Natural Grocers ™ BrandOrganic Coconut Cream (reserve coconut water and remaining coconut cream from can for another use) • ¼ cup Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Organic Coconut Sugar • ¼ cup Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Organic Cocoa Powder • 2 teaspoons Natural Grocers Brand Organic Plant Based Buttery Spread or Stick • ½ teaspoon organic vanilla extract • Dash of Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Real Salt For the banana splits • 2 tablespoons Natural Grocers BrandOrganic Grade ADarkMaple Syrup • 4 ripe but firm small organic bananas; remove stems and slice bananas in half lengthwise, leaving the skins on • 1 pound organic strawberries, green tops removed and very large berries halved • 1 small organic pineapple, cut into ½-inch slices, or 1 (16-ounce) can organic pineapple slices, drained • 1 pint organic dairy-free vanilla ice cream

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Make the fudge sauce by warming the coconut cream, sugar, and cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves and sauce is uniform. Reduce heat to warm and add the remaining sauce ingredients. Stir until the buttery spread is melted and fully incorporated. Keep the sauce warm while you finish the recipe or store in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours and reheat just before using. 2. Preheat the grill to high. Prep the fruit while the grill preheats. Pour the maple syrup into a shallow dish and lightly coat the cut side of the bananas and all sides of the strawberries and pineapple with the maple syrup. Once the grill is hot, scrub the grill grates and then reduce heat to medium. Place the bananas on the grill cut-side down and the strawberries and pineapple carefully on the grill so they don’t fall through. Grill for about 4 minutes, or until the fruit has nice grill marks. Flip the strawberries and pineapple and grill another 4 minutes. For firmer bananas, remove them from the grill; for softer bananas, flip and grill skin- side down for another two minutes. 3. Carefully peel the bananas and if desired, coarsely chop the strawberries and pineapple. 4. Put the banana splits together by placing two halves of banana on opposite sides of four serving bowls. Add two or three small scoops of ice cream to the middle of the bananas in each bowl. Top each bowl with the strawberries and pineapple, drizzle with hot fudge sauce, and add optional toppings of your choice. Enjoy immediately.

Optional toppings

•

Whipped topping

• ¼ -½ cup chopped Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Roasted Salted Virginia Peanuts or Organic Dry Roasted Salted Almonds • Fresh organic cherries

46 | Health Hotline ®