Rotten Bananas ......

does this happen at your house??

we go through the banana cycle .... it starts with everyone loving bananas. So much so that I buy bunch after bunch at the store only to have them gobbled up the minute they ripen or even with a tinge of green!

then the winds of change blow through - or maybe it is a secret banana boycott organized behind my back to get me to make banana bread.

Not sure ... but I do know that this is the result!



ugh!

so I decided it was time for banana bread - or rather banana muffins. A little easier to grab and go.

Of course I can never remember which recipe I used last, so I hunted through my cookbooks until I came upon Muffin Madness in the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home Cookbook and pulled out my trusty purple kitchen-aid!



This is a great recipe because it gives you directions for a tasty muffin base that you can flavor in different ways.

-- Basic Wet Ingredients --
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 - 1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-- Basic Dry Ingredients --
2 cup unbleached flour (I use whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Choose one of the following combos to add to basic ingredients (the above is NOT a plain muffin recipe, but the base for the following)

Apple muffins: Add 2 cups of grated apple and 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel to wet ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to dry ingredients.

Banana muffins: Add 1 1/2 cups of mashed banana to wet ingredients and 1 cup chopped nuts and/or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to batter. (this can be adjusted to personal preference - we like fewer nuts and use mini-chips)

Blueberry - lemon muffins: Add 1 1/2 cups of blueberries and 1 tablespoon of grated lemon peel to wet ingredients.

Zucchini muffins: Add 2 cups of grated zucchini to wet ingredients and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom to the dry ingredients. Fold in 1/2 cup of raisins or currants and 3/4 cup of chopped nuts to batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine wet ingredients, combine dry ingredients. Add two mixtures together and take care not to overmix. Spoon batter into oiled standard muffins tins and bake for 20-25 minutes standard size muffins or 10-15 minutes for mini muffins

the result was so yummy I made 3 batches in 2 days... and yep, I used up all of those black bananas !

Tasteful Tuesday returns....

in time for all of your 4th of July picnic celebrations I thought I would share one of our favorite and not quite traditional picnic salads! This has gotten quite a few thumbs up from family & friends!

This is taken from Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites.


Moosewood is a famous vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY and this cookbook would be a great addition to any cookbook collection! I have changed the recipe from the cookbook version to fit with my families tastes but will note the alternate additions the author suggests.

Sushi Rice Salad serves 4-6 as a main course
(The way I make it I like to call it a deconstructed california roll! I double this recipe and it will serve 20 as a side salad.)

1C brown rice
1 3/4C water

SAUCE
1/3C rice vinegar
2T sugar
1t salt
2t fresh grated ginger root

1 large cucumber peeled, seeded, diced
1 ripe avocado (not too mushy) peeled & diced
1/2 package surimi (imitation crab meat)roughly chopped
1-2t wasabi powder dissolved in an equal amount of cold water
1 sheet nori seaweed
1T black or brown seasame seeds


Combine rice and water in saucepan, bring to boil. Stir, cover, reduce heat and cook until rice is tender 40-45 min (or cook rice in your rice cooker)

Combine sauce ingredients in seperate small saucepan, simmer 5 min, remove from heat.

In serving bowl combine vegetables, surimi and sauce. Mix in wasabi paste. Add cooked rice, mix well. Toast the sheet of nori by baking for a 1+ minute at 300 degrees, then crumble on top of rice mixture. Toast seasame seeds and sprinkle on top for garnish.

Note - you may also add blanched vegetables such as diced carrot or red pepper. May be served on a bed of greens if serving as a main course salad. may garnish with slices of pickled ginger also.

Much easier than trying to roll your own sushi with a bamboo mat - believe me we have tried! But still offers the mix of tastes and textured that you get in a california roll.

Enjoy!