When Life Gives You Over-ripe Bananas, Make Ice Cream!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for frozen bananas which, when pureed, taste a hell of a lot like ice cream . . . .

Yesterday I found a bunch of over-ripe bananas at my grocery store. They were all bound up in red tape like they were crime scene evidence. I liberated that fruit and made good use of it! Here's a really simple treat, that literally takes 5 minutes to prepare (minus freezing time). It's smooth and creamy and the banana flavor is very subtle.

Banana Ice "Cream"

MY BANANA ICE CREAM

Consider this recipe something to build on. You can easily change flavors based on what you add to it: candies, syrups, fruits- you name it!

4 over-ripe bananas, frozen (figure about 1 banana per person)
1 tablespoon of good-quality vanilla extract (or maple, walnut or whatever flavor you desire)
1 tablespoon natural sugar (more or less to taste)
Your choice of add-ins. I used chocolate chips, but any ice cream-friendly ingredients will do. Go nuts (yeah- nuts would be good, too)!

1. Freeze bananas overnight. I recommend chopping them into smaller chunks prior to freezing so they're easier to purée later. I learned this the hard way!
2. Using a food processor, purée the frozen bananas. Add vanilla (or other flavoring) and sugar and mix well.
3. Mix in whatever you like, and return the ice "cream" to the freezer to firm up.
4. Enjoy!

Banana Ice "Cream," step-by-step

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“But what about Thanksgiving?”

A year ago today, when I decided that I wanted to stop eating meat, a small, whiney voice in the back of my head said, “but what about Thanksgiving?” The fact that it was June and I was already worried about one meal five months in the future is a good indication of how important that day is to my family. My husband was a turkey ninja; each year he picked out just the right bird, brined that baby in some secret concoction in a hidden corner of the garage, stuffed it with sprigs of fresh sage, rosemary, thyme and citrus fruit, and slow roasted it to fall-off-the-bone perfection. I made everything else, and spent weeks planning out the side dishes and desserts, writing and rewriting menus. My favorite dish was my stuffing, made with sage sausage, Granny Smith apples, and pecans.

Ohhhh, man. We put out a mean spread. We were so in love with Thanksgiving and our special dishes that we made a vow early in our marriage that we would never go anywhere for Thanksgiving, just so we would always have the meal exactly as we wanted. Our home has always been open to anyone who wants to attend, but honestly most years it’s been just my husband, me, and our boys. And that is perfectly fine with us.

Because, well- as selfish as it sounds, Thanksgiving is about THE FOOD to us. Yeah, yeah, “family,” and “togetherness,” and “gratitude,” and blah blah blaaaaaaaaaah! There are 364 days of the year for that.

So, going veg, I was worried about my favorite family ritual. Five months ahead of time. Not having the turkey on Thanksgiving could have been the deal-breaker for me. I sat down and started a serious conversation with my husband (who graciously agreed to stop eating meat as well, knowing it would be easier for me).

“Jay. Um. I’m worried about Thanksgiving.”

“It’s June.”

“I know, but . . .”

“That’s five months from now.”

“Well- what about the turkey?”

“What about it?”

“If we aren’t going to eat meat anymore we won’t have turkey at Thanksgiving.”

“So what?”

And that was that. If he didn’t care, I could certainly pretend that I didn’t care either (but, between us, I DID care. A lot). Know what I discovered? Thousands of other vegetarians were also figuring out what the hell they were going to make for Thanksgiving, too. I relied heavily on various sites and blogs for the day, since I was worried about screwing it up. I took all the pictures with my phone (mainly because I was texting them to my friend Mickey all day, as a sort of tease).

So, friends, I decided to start my first recipe posts with my Thanksgiving menu from 2010. Turns out you can eat yourself stupid without a turkey on the table!

Breakfast:

Quiche with spinach, broccoli and Quorn "chicken"

MY QUICHE:

1 pastry shell
1 ½ cups grated Swiss cheese (Gruyère is best)
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground or grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons sweet, unsalted, butter
8 ounces Upton’s Naturals Italian seitan or Quorn Chick'n Tenders, sautéed with olive oil (optional. I now know how to make my own Italian sausage and often use that. That recipe will be posted soon!)
1 cup cooked broccoli and/or spinach, well drained

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Bake prepared pie crust for about 5 minutes. Lower heat to 350°, and bake until crust is golden brown (about 10 minutes longer). Watch the crust carefully so it doesn’t get too well done. Remove crust from oven and cool.
2. Return oven to 400°. Layer shredded cheese and fillings in pastry shell.
3. Beat together whole eggs, egg yolks, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into pie shell. Dot the top with little pieces of butter. Sprinkle a little more pepper and/or nutmeg on top.
4. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300° and bake for 25 minutes longer or until cheese custard is set and golden on top (depending on fillings, you may need to add an extra 15 minutes to bake time). Serve hot.





Lunch:

Pumpkin-Ricotta ravioli with pine nuts and cream of mushroom soup

MY PUMPKIN-RICOTTA RAVIOLI WITH PINE NUTS:
(I had fully intended to make my own "cheeseless" ricotta before Thanksgiving, but chickened out at the last minute.)

½ can pure pumpkin puree
8 ounces Ricotta cheese, well drained
1 egg, beaten (or equivalent amount of Egg Replacer)
1 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice (more or less to taste)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (more or less to taste)
1 package Nasoya wonton wrappers (or your own homemade pasta)
4 tablespoons Earth’s Balance, divided
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
½ cup Parmesan shreds (optional)

1. Mix together the puree, Ricotta, egg, nutmeg, pepper and salt.
2. Put mixture in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes so it firms up a little.
3. After 20 minutes, prepare the raviolis. Use the wonton wrappers like ravioli dough; place a tablespoon of the cheese mixture in the center of one wrapper. Moisten all around the edges of the wrapper with water (just use your finger), then do the same for the wrapper you’re placing on top.
4. Carefully cover the bottom and cheese with the pre-moistened top layer, then crimp all around the edges with a fork.
5. Now the fun part! On another burner, get a skillet ready to go with melted Earth’s Balance spread on medium heat. You will be working in batches. Cook them on each side for about 2 minutes, then move to waiting platter. You can toss the pine nuts in with skillet, too, if you like. Sprinkle raviolis with pine nuts and Parmesan to serve.
7. Repeat process until all the raviolis are done, adding Earth's Balance as needed. These are best eaten hot. At my house, that means that family members stand next to me with plates ready to go, grabbing the raviolis from me straight from the skillet.

MUSHROOM SOUP:
(I started with a ready-made soup, and then "doctored" it up)

32 ounces Imagine Natural Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup
1 cup portobello mushrooms, coarsley chopped (or a mixture of your favorite mushrooms)
2 cloves minced garlic
½ cup chopped leeks or onions
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Pour prepared soup into a pot on the stove over medium heat.
2. In a skillet, sauté mushrooms, garlic, leeks and salt and pepper in olive oil. Cook until fragrant and glistening.
3. Add vegetables to soup and cook until heated though. Before serving, stir in Parmesan cheese (if using), saving some to sprinkle over the top of each serving.

Dinner:

Quorn roast with mushroom gravy, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans with leeks

QUORN ROAST WITH MUSHROOM GRAVY:
(Adapted from Epicurious)

I used 2 Quorn Roasts, still using the rub, but then wrapping the roasts in oven bags and slow cooking them all day.

Instead of butter, I used Earth's Balance.

In place of chicken broth, I used Imagine's No Chicken Broth.

I also used portobello mushrooms instead of shitake.


MY POTATOES:
4 pounds golden creamer potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 bay leaf
Kosher or sea salt and ground pepper to taste
2 cups heavy cream (vegan substitute here)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped chives

1. Put potatoes in large stock pot with bay leaf and 2 tablespoons salt. Cover potatoes with cold water.
2. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and cook until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and remove bay leaf.
3. Meanwhile, heat the cream and butter in small saucepan. Put the potatoes through a ricer (if desired) before placing them in a large bowl.
4. Add the hot cream and season potatoes with salt and pepper. Add chives and stir to combine.

GREEN BEANS WITH LEEKS, ROSEMARY AND LEMON:

(From 101 Cookbooks)


MY STUFFING:

12 ounces Upton's Naturals Italian seitan (or other vegetarian sausage)
2 medium Granny Smith apples, diced (I don't peel them- I like the color with the skins on. It's up to you)
1 cup additional dried fruit (like cranberries) if desired
1 teaspon coarsley ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried sage (more or less to taste)
6 tablespoons butter
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 jumbo onion, diced
2 large carrots, shredded or diced (your preference)
15 ounces Imagine No Chicken Broth, plus more as needed
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup water
1½ loaves of your favorite bread (I use cornbread muffins), stale or toasted lightly and broken up into bite-sized chunks
1 cup chopped and toasted pecans
2 egg whites (or equivalent amount of Egg Replacer), optional

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook "sausage" until browned. Add apples, dried fruit (if using), pepper, thyme and sage; cook 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally and scraping up browned bits. Spoon mixture and drippings into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Add another tablespoon of butter to the same skillet. Add celery, and onions and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook 5 minutes longer. Add broth, parsley and water; heat until simmering.
3. Spoon vegetable mixture, pecans and bread crumbs into the bowl with the sausage and mix well. Add more broth if necessary (stuffing will dry out a little as it bakes). Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.
4. Spoon stuffing into a buttered baking dish or (my favorite) a buttered 12-cup muffin tin. Brush with egg whites (if desired). Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until heated through.


SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE:
(From The Fat Free Vegan)


Dessert:

Apple-Cranberry Pie

APPLE-CRANBERRY PIE
(From About.com)


Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

DOUBLE LAYER PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
(From Fat Free Vegan)

I added shavings of dark chocolate to the bottom, middle and top.

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Let's Begin at the Beginning

I’d like to start this blog by making one thing very very clear: I love to eat. I love all aspects of eating. I love the sights and smells of a farmer’s market. I love glossy pages in cookbooks, Top Chef, spices, and backyard vegetable gardens. I love food arranged as art on the plate and casseroles all cheesy and dumped in a cereal bowl. I love recipes on curling index cards written in my grandma’s hand and how garlic makes itself known in all rooms of the house if you’ve used enough. I like the carmelized parts- I even like how that sounds . . . carmelized. I believe food is an expression of love and if Thanksgiving dinner comes out of a can or box and is served on throwaway plates then you deserve all the family dysfunction around the table. I believe that life is too short, and would rather rock some junk in the trunk than stop eating bread.

So, please understand, I am the last person on the planet who would deprive me of any gustatory pleasure. I, like most Americans, had developed a daily diet in which meat was the main man on the plate and everything else was incidental (unless pasta was on the plate as well. Then it was more a 50-50 sort of thing). I loved all kinds of meat but particularly pork. Pork loin. We had developed so many different glazes and marinades for pork loin in this house it had risen to piggy-worship. Ironically, pigs are my favorite animals. My relationship with pork was similar to the Simpsons episode where Homer has a pet lobster, Pinchy. Homer accidentally cooks Pinchy and then alternates between sobbing and pleasure-moaning as he eats it.

Then, last year, a number of things occurred all at once, and the end result was that I was done with meat. I turned 40. It wasn’t that I had a mid-life crisis or anything, but I did have major intestinal surgery on my birthday. On my actual birthday. Prior to the surgery, my doctor told me that meat wasn’t doing me any favors, and my gut and I would get along a lot better if I cut meat consumption way down. So I did what any 21st century citizen does- I researched it on the internet. In a few days’ worth of surfing I watched some frightening documentaries, read a few books, ordered some fantastic cookbooks, signed up to follow a number of vegan/vegetarian blogs, and I decided that I was done with meat. Pigs would be safe with me from now on.

So—here’s what I learned in the past year: I learned that there is more variety of delicious food out there than I could ever hope to eat (not for lack of trying, though). I learned that I actually feel better when I haven’t consumed meat. I learned that I can approximate most anything I ever ate in my “previous” life, and often times it tastes way better than I remember it. I learned that most of my problems with food (read: excess weight) were born out of laziness; it’s waaaaaaaaay too easy to grab a double cheeseburger at a drive-thru. I learned that my taste buds can (and have) changed. I also learned that I have fundamentally transformed and have committed to this lifestyle.

Which leads me to this blog. I have enjoyed this year so much that I just want to share it with others. I’m not trying to convert anyone at all. I’m not a spokesperson for vegetarianism. I’m not political about what you eat with the exception of the firm belief that the way we now “farm” the majority of animals that end up on our plates is inhumane and disgusting and causing untold harm to the planet. I made a personal decision to stop eating meat and in the process I’ve eaten better than I ever have before. I also lost 30 pounds, though that wasn’t my goal.

So before I jump into this blog whole hog (couldn’t resist), I want to make the following disclaimers:

1. I am vegetarian, not vegan. I still occasionally eat cheese and eggs.
2. I always loved eating meat, and have no qualms about creating “meat-like” dishes. I know some vegetarians balk at that. Not me!
3. I’m still learning.
4. I have 3 children who are not vegetarian. They eat meat about 3 days a week. And no, they don’t usually eat what I make for myself. I think that’s pretty typical in a lot of families. We are working on it.
5. My husband decided to join the vegetarian bandwagon with me without being asked. This has made the transition considerably easier.
6. I’m not a nutritionist. While I know that all of your dietary requirements can easily be met with a vegetarian diet, I don’t recommend you just take my word for it. Do some research and ask your doctor.

With all that said, I welcome you to Vegerrific. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think!

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