Best Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Cake

This banana cake from bestrecipes.com.au seems to turn out perfectly no matter what you do to it.  And it only takes about 10 minutes to make the batter.

Best Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Cake


1 1/2 cups any plain flour (can use rice, besan, potato, GF flour mix)
1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup olive oil
3 over-ripe bananas, mashed

Grease a small-medium sized cake tin and line the bottom with grease-proof paper.  Set the oven at 150*C.  Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.  Add sugar and mix.  Make a well in the centre and add the bananas, oil and eggs.  Mix until smooth.  Bake for 1 hour or until you notice the cake calling you from another room.

I have added fresh blueberries to this cake and also feijoas, both with good levels of success.  It is delicious even without icing.

Spaghetti with Smoked Sardines, Olives and Spring Onion

I put together this very simple pasta for lunch one day up in Bundanon using the smoked sardines I got from the fresh fish market in Nowra NSW.  They were so good!  If you ever see smoked sardines, grab them immediately (I have never seen them anywhere else).  You could substitute another type of smoked fish and I'm sure it would be almost as good.

Spaghetti With Smoked Sardines, Olives and Spring Onion

Serves 2 for lunch or dinner

1 packet spaghetti
A handful of kalamata olives, chopped and pitted
2 spring onions, roughly sliced
6 smoked sardines
A little chopped parsley
Olive oil
Lemon or lime juice to serve



Boil the pasta as per the packet instructions.  In a frying pan, saute the olives and spring onions for 5-10 minutes until the spring onions start to colour slightly.  Add the smoked sardines and stir to break them up a bit and warm them through.  Add the cooked pasta to the pan and use tongs to mix it through the sauce.  Add a little more olive oil, the chopped parsley and some cracked pepper to finish.  Squeeze over some lemon juice after you have dished it up onto plates.

I served this with a salad of chopped green capsicum, avocado, fresh herbs and vinaigrette.