Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

I want to start off by saying I found this recipe in Cooking Light. I note that point specifically because once you take a bite of this moist, chocolaty bread, you will not at all believe it is light. Everything in moderation and all that jazz, but this is an outstanding recipe and a great way to use up some over ripe bananas.

Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Yield: 16 slices

2 C all purpose flour
½ t salt
1 C sugar
1 ½ C mashed bananas (about 3)
½ C egg substitute (2 eggs)
1/3 C plain low-fat yogurt
½ C semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ t baking soda
¼ C butter, softened
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350˚. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add banana, egg and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just moist.

Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave at high for one minute until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup of batter to chocolate and stir until combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 ½ x 4 ½ greased loaf pan. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350˚ for one hour or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Calories: 183 (23% from fat)
Fat: 4.7g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.2g)
Protein: 3.1g
Carbohydrate: 33.4g
Fiber: 1.3g
Cholesterol:
8mg
Iron: 1.1mg
Sodium: 180mg
Calcium: 18mg

This is so incredibly delicious. The first time I made it, I literally wanted to eat the entire loaf hot out of the oven. The mouth watering combination of chocolate and bananas with the texture of hot, fresh bread will quite literally send your senses into gastronomic overdrive. This bread keeps pretty well for a few days, but honestly, there is no sensible reason for it to sit more than three or four days before it's gobbled right up. It also freezes well, too, if wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.




This bread is so versatile and can be eaten as a snack, a light dessert or my favorite, breakfast! Toast two pieces in the oven until slightly browned and the ends crunchy (the slices would likely fall apart in a traditional toaster oven, but be my guest), and then - wait for it! - spread a little peanut butter on each slice. Ring, ring! Hello, who is it? It's your stomach and brain calling, and they have just simultaneously passed out from the lip smacking fusion of the holy trinity of taste and deliciousness. The Cajun holy trinity has nothing on this combo.

A few notes. With the bananas, it's really important that they be very ripe simply because it makes them easier to mash, plus they are much sweeter when they're more ripe. Some good black speckling on the peel is a fine indicator. I sliced them up into chunks and use a pastry cutter to do the mashing, or you could also use a blender or a fork. But they have to be pretty well mashed for this to work. A few little solids here and there won't cause a problem. Also, instead of the plain low-fat yogurt, I use low-fat vanilla yogurt just to add that little extra pop. Plus, I use real eggs and not the egg substitute. You could also sub in some whole wheat flour, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a smidgen of vanilla extract, etc. Whatever your little heart desires.

Empanadas

You know those Totinos Pizza Rolls in the freezer section at the store? The little crispy pillows of overly processed dried out "meat" that may or may not actually be pepperoni, chemically enhanced cheese that cooks to a blob consistency and a sauce with tomato-like qualities that super heats to temperatures only found during NASA missions to the center of our solar system? Yeah, those things. Well, after making these Empanadas I don't see how I could ever purchase anything like that ever again. Not that I was making it a habit to purchase them before, but now I really won't. So there, Totinos.

Empanadas

Makes 36 servings

Ingredients
8 ounces skinned and boned chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 small onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 green bell pepper, minced
1/2 tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped
4 pimento-stuffed green olives, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon minced fresh cilantro or parsley
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Vegetable cooking spray
1 tablespoon dry breadcrumbs (optional)
36 (3-inch) square wonton wrappers
Salt to taste


Cook first 13 ingredients in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat 5 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring often.

Process chicken mixture in a food processor until coarsely chopped. (Mixture should be fairly dry. Add 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs if mixture is wet.) Cover and chill 30 minutes.

Arrange 1 wonton wrapper on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush edges of wrapper with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in center of wrapper. Fold dough over filling, pressing edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and chicken mixture. Arrange empanadas on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat empanadas with cooking spray.

Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden brown, turning after 6 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

This recipe uses wonton wrappers - my favorite! I've used them so many different ways and I know there are other uses out there just dying to be discovered. These would be great for appetizers or for kids coming home from school and wanting a treat. You know exactly what is in them and while they're not exactly health food, they're still not store-bought processed unknowns. And I'm not bashing store-bought processed food, but I think this is a better alternative.

The mixture was a little moist when I took it out of the food processor and I didn't use the bread crumbs - they're optional anyway. I also halved this recipe and it made fewer than half of the full recipe quantity but I may have overstuffed the empanadas a bit. It didn't seem to affect the final product. The only change I made was not to add olives since I didn't have any. I did add raisins and I couldn't taste them at all, but you have to think that a tablespoon of raisins is maybe five or six. Maybe seven. I don't know, but they didn't shine through.

Thanks to the world's most imprecise oven, I once again cooked these little things a smidgen too long and the edges were extra browned. They still tasted fine. And speaking of taste, they had a distinct sweetness to them. No, I don't think that was the raisin coming through, but it could have been the sauteing of the vegetables at the beginning which brought out some of the natural sugars. I don't know. But they were good.

They do need time to cool, but since there is no sauce then that time is dramatically reduced. They would probably be good with a dipping sauce of some kind, but off the top of my head I can't think of one. I would steer clear from any kind of Ranch dressing, but I bet there are other options out there that would work well.

Grilled Shrimp with Bacon and Jalapenos

This is a party recipe. Something you make when you have a lot of people coming over, space on the grill and lights strung up all over your porch. Cinco de Mayo, perhaps? The jalapeno can be increased or decreased depending on the heat you desire, but truth be told these peppers aren't blazing hot like some people think. Or maybe I'm just accustomed to heat and everyone else is a big wuss. The world may never know.

Grilled Shrimp with Bacon and Jalapenos

16 thick, round wooden picks
16 unpeeled large fresh shrimp
2 jalapeno peppers
2 T olive oil
¼ t salt
1/8 t black pepper
8 thick-cut bacon slices, halved

Soak round wooden picks in water 30 minutes. Peel shrimp, leaving tails on; devein if desired. Set shrimp aside. Cut each pepper lengthwise into 8 pieces; remove seeds. Toss together shrimp, jalapeno peppers, olive oil, salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.

Microwave bacon slices on high 30 seconds. Wrap one bacon slice half around one shrimp and one piece of jalapeno pepper. Secure with a wooden pick.

Repeat procedure with remaining bacon slices, shrimp and jalapenos. Grill without grill lid over medium-high heat (350-400 degrees) for four to six minutes, or until shrimp turn pink, turning once.

I used regular Oscar Meyer bacon for this recipe but I think it would be fabulous with some of that peppered, thick cut bacon. I like my bacon a little more crisp than the average person but I didn't take into account that the bacon needed to be more pliable in order to wrap it around the shrimp, and would continue to cook once it's in the oven. Therefore I overcooked a few pieces in the microwave and - bummer! - had to eat them because they wouldn't wrap. Poor me.

Also, the shrimp I used were the 41-60 size which ended up being a little small. I would go with larger shrimp next time. As far as my cooking method, I didn't cook these on a grill because I just didn't want to fire the grill up. No other reason. So I did these in the oven under the broiler and they tasted fine.

Additionally, I think fresh shrimp are key. I used frozen cooked shrimp and I bet the fresh ones would possibly end up a little less rubbery. Maybe a marinade for the shrimp, too? Look at me, I'm totally dissecting the entire recipe. It's not that I didn't like them - I did - but there's always room for improvement.

They photographed really well unlike the evil soup the Husband and I made, so you know they're good eats. My slices of jalapeno were a little larger than the recipe indicated because I like the extra heat, but again, you can do them however you like. And I promise I won't call you a wuss.