I’ve Gone Bananas

For fear of a swarm of fruit flies invading my kitchen, I decided to do something with the brown bananas sitting on my counter. Once in a while I get this bunch that are a sickly army green colour, and no matter how much time goes by, they never turn yellow - they just go straight to brown. I knew they were no longer edible, since I took one in my lunch the other day and was nearly drunk after mowing it down.

And so, I decided to mash the following recipe together in a quick attempt to generate a snack for the rest of this week’s lunch. Also, I wanted to do something productive to justify watching my weekly TV trash fix, America’s Next Top Model:

Sarah’s I’ve-Gone-Bananas Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup Sucanat or sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon each ginger and nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
3-4 mashed ripe bananas (if you’re missing one or two bananas, add in ½ cup applesauce to compensate)
½ - ¾ cup soymilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup (I’m a Canuck)
½ cup chocolate chips (for Kyle!) or walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray the bottoms of a 12-muffin tin with oil.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Make a well in the centre, and add the mashed bananas, ½ cup soymilk and maple syrup. Mix until just blended, adding in additional soymilk if the batter is as stiff as mixing cement. Add in chocolate chips (if you have a chocoholic boyfriend like me) or walnuts and stir to combine.

Fill each muffin cup with batter. I recommend using a large scoop that ejects the batter easily. Bake for 20 minutes, let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool on a rack.

For dinner, I whipped up this Asian-inspired recipe. As a result of my impulsive ingredient toss, the measurements are approximated, but I don’t think I’m that far off:

Sarah’s Tamari Tofu Toss

8 ounces linguine noodles
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
½ cup tamari
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon maple syrup (again, for the Canadian in me)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 medium red onion, diced
5 mushrooms, sliced
1 block firm tofu, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 bunch broccoli, cut into small florets
¾ cup carrots, cut into matchsticks (I cheat and buy them prechopped)

In a glass measuring cup, mix cornstarch, water, tamari, seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, syrup, ginger and flakes. Set aside.

Bring pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook.

Meanwhile, cook onions and mushrooms over medium-high heat in a little oil until softened. Add tofu cubes and broccoli and stir for one minute until broccoli looks soft. Toss in carrots and cook for another minute. Add prepared sauce and stir until thickened, about 30 seconds.

Drain cooked noodles, and add to pan with tofu mixture. Mix to coat and serve immediately.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and toss on the salt. Yum!