Carrots and bananas — and bacon

Telluride Daily Planet, Friday, June 20, 2025

“If we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had some eggs.” — Jon Krakauer

Pretty much every time I go to the grocery store, I am grateful for two organic items that remain inexpensive and are a staple in our household: carrots and bananas. Obviously. Carrots can stay relatively fresh for a long time in the fridge, and bananas are easy to stockpile frozen.

Already, this is a plus in my book, since most of us do not shop the European way, which is potentially every day at an outdoor market. Many of us in small mountain towns make food runs somewhat regularly to economize and stock up, paying attention to long lasting items and really relying on them. Thank you, carrots and bananas, even though you are originally from Central and Southern Asia. Thank you for occupying your place in our whole-food repertoire.

The humble carrot, a staple in my Bullwinkle lunch box circa 1968, is still a staple in my veggie repertoire today. Big time. Good raw or cooked or juiced (or frozen for your dog, even). High in both soluble and insoluble fiber, therefore good for digestion, blood sugar regulation, cholesterol and colon health. High in antioxidants beta-carotene and lutein, both important for eye health and immune health. High in vitamin C, K, biotin and potassium. One carrot can provide over 200% of your daily vitamin A needs.

Friends: Learn to eat a raw carrot! And if you can’t, try something new: carrot salads or carrot ginger soup. Roasted carrots, pickled carrots, carrot cake, carrot muffins, carrot pudding (halwa, please try it) or carrot-top pesto. Carrots add sweetness to any stir fry or sauce. They can easily be fermented (1 tablespoon of salt per 2 cups water) at room temperature in a mason-type jar for five to 10 days.

When my daughter was young, during a drive home from swimming or other activities, we used to hand her and her friends a bag of mini (cut) carrots, knowing they were hungry enough to eat anything, if not offered alternatives. Plainly, it was a victory dumping all that fiber into their mini microbiomes. For the child or adult alike who never touches a vegetable, a raw carrot a day is a noble goal.

And bananas? Well, even though South American acquaintances say ours are dumbed down versions of the real deal, they are still handy, sweet, nutritious and versatile. We all know about bananas in muffins, smoothies, as frozen treats, and dried into chips or leather. Today, the air fryer brings yet another treat in warm caramelized bananas.

Also trending conspicuously are minimalist recipes (two to five ingredients) using bananas as the only sweetener, such as banana-oatmeal cookies, banana egg muffins, chocolate banana bites and banana chia pudding. Bananas contain plenty of goodness, including potassium and magnesium, and soluble fiber and insoluble fiber (in unripe ones especially). They give us simple, wholesome health benefits for the heart, muscles, nerves, digestion, mood and blood sugar.

How does this have anything to do with bacon? Well, as it happens, carrots and banana peels are both popular bases for vegan bacon. Yes! And it’s good! Both are made from long strips, marinated in a solution of soy sauce, maple syrup, smoked paprika, cider vinegar, onion and garlic powder, pepper and — optionally — smoke flavor. (The banana peel is indeed edible and nutritious but should be washed well and some of the pith scraped out.) Using carrot tops and banana peels honors whole food itself, sustainability and quasi zero waste.

Many years ago, in my early days in Telluride, some of our local climbers, notoriously low on cash and hell bent on pursuing their obsession, would stock up on cheap “dirtbag climber” food. What I remember most vividly were baked potatoes wrapped in foil as an ever-ready food and, believe it or not, monkey chow, the dry “kibble” fed to monkeys (Purina brand). I kid you not. It was a thing in the 70s and 80s, flaunted by the rebels of this particular subculture.

Other hardcore minimalist foods included canned dog and cat food, hard cheese, “dirtbag espresso” made of instant coffee, peanut butter or Nutella and water, garden variety cheap candy, and an endless variety of rice/lentil mixes (some flavored entirely by hoarded condiment packets).

This flagrant paring down of food essentials makes me smile every time I think about it. But it also reminds me of two essential concepts: 1) eating less does increase longevity, and 2) extreme simplicity, at least in the short run, is a nice break from the elaborate and sometimes exhausting notion that we can eat whatever we want whenever we want in whatever quantities we want. Because less, quite often, can leave us with so much more.