Best Banana Muffins
Banana muffins: the muffin of forgotten bananas. Nobody buys bananas with the sole intention of letting their peels become black just so they can make banana muffins or banana bread. But no longer. Next time I buy bananas, I fully intend to forget to eat even a single one just so I can make these muffins. The wait will be agonizing. Days will tick by like milliseconds. Green-tinted ends will give way to delicate brown freckles, then to larger brown patches, and finally to shiny, near-black perfection. Perfect, not to eat out-of-peel, but to provide the flavor base for these intensely flavorful, delicately moist, perfectly spiced little morsels of ultimate banana-ness.
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That may be the most dramatic paragraph I’ve ever written about food. But: accurate. And worth it. These muffins are the best banana muffins I have ever tasted, and certainly the best I’ve ever made in my own kitchen. I don’t mean to oversell this recipe, of course. After all, you probably have a favorite banana bread or muffin recipe. But please, next time you have a lonely, sad, forgotten bunch of bananas lying around…make these.
I made mini-muffins because I only had enough bananas for half a batch, and I wanted to extend the life of my muffins. Unfortunately that didn’t work out as I’d hoped—they were gone in two days. They’re perfectly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and—the real standout—cardamom. But what’s really the star of these muffins is the intense banana flavor. I don’t count banana among my favorite flavors, but I definitely hadn’t experienced banana flavor like this before. The bananas are microwaved to release their juice (who knew?), and then the liquid is cooked down and reduced by half before being added into the batter.
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Sour cream makes the crumb light and moist, and a mix of brown sugar and vanilla bean sugar create a delicate sweetness with a little somethin’ extra that you can’t put your finger on at first. And on top of that, I added chopped pecans into the batter for a nice textural contrast and that toasty pecan flavor. I easily made three varieties with simple toppings (or lack thereof): plain, sprinkled with just a few chocolate chips, and my favorite, topped with a single pecan half. Let’s make some muffins.
Turkey Sloppy Joes
This is another recipe from the “kid-friendly” section of this cookbook. Yes, I am 23 years old. I make no apologies. Adults can like sloppy Joes too! These healthier Joes are made with ground turkey and a heap o’ mushrooms to bulk it up with less meat. As a mushroom-hater, I can attest that you will not notice or care about the mushrooms. If you have kids, this is a great way to trick them into eating vegetables without knowing it. It also works for grown-up veggie-haters. Another plus is that this recipe is super fast to throw together, and so easy.
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The best kinds of “healthified” dishes are comfort foods that still taste like you remember, and this is definitely one of those dishes. Despite the fact that it’s made with turkey and mushrooms instead of beef, the flavors of this recipe are still that of a classic sloppy Joe: tomato-y, slightly sweet, a little smoky, and a little tangy. The texture is just as I like it: big chunks of ground meat with a thick, gooey sauce. Certainly sloppy.
Chicken Enchilada Soup
This week has been a heck of a disappointment on the food front. I made a meal plan last weekend, as I do, and was all set for a week of healthy, homemade meals. I generally make three to four meals and use leftovers for lunches and multiple dinners, etc. I had planned three meals for this week: two of them relied on ground turkey, and one other on tofu.
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Of course, the store was out of both turkey and tofu. Then, the next store was out of turkey. And tofu. Finally, a third store had ground turkey but since I’d never been there before, I couldn’t find the tofu if they did have it.* Did a ground-turkey-and-tofu farm explode somewhere and now there’s no turkey and no tofu?! (And certainly no tofurky.)
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Anyway, I’m excited to make my first real meal of the week tomorrow…on Thursday. Pathetic. Thankfully, last week was much more successful. I found this recipe on Skinnytaste and my boyfriend actually made it (many thanks!) while I was at work and it simmered away in the slow cooker until I came home and we devoured it. We loved this soup and will definitely be making it again. It’s a great “throw it in the Crock Pot and forget it” recipe, with a lot of flavor for very little effort and calories. You don’t even have to cook the chicken first! So easy.
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*Okay, yes, I could’ve asked someone for assistance. Don’t judge me.
Roasted Red Pepper Ravioli
I got the pasta roller KitchenAid attachment for my birthday in November. The first batch I made was adequate, but I didn’t use a very good recipe and it was only mediocre. This time was a drastic improvement! I just got a book on making artisan pasta, and the recipe for roasted red pepper pasta dough immediately stood out. I never would’ve thought of it, but it’s a stroke of genius!
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The roasted red pepper doesn’t have a super strong flavor, but the color is gorgeous. Because the pepper flavor is subtle, the book suggests not covering it up with an oppressive canned tomato sauce or heavy cream sauce. I whipped up a quick “sauce” of herbs, garlic, and olive oil, which is super flavorful but light enough to allow the pasta and filling to shine through. Speaking of filling: a ricotta and mozzarella mixture makes these ravioli plump, cheesy, and delicious (Ok, so it’s not health food. You’ll live.). Are you ready? Let’s do this thing.
Pasta Os with Meatballs
Show of hands: who ate Spaghetti-Os as a kid? Who ate them like, yesterday? I wouldn’t blame you. I was obsessed with Spaghetti-Os until an embarrassingly late age. It was one of the few things I’d always eat when I was a tiny pain-in-the-neck picky eater. And, I’ll be honest, I’d probably eat them right this second if they were put in front of me and I had no self-awareness.
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When I was a poor college kid with the palette of a six-year-old and no knowledge of nutrition, I still ate Spaghetti-Os. When I started eating healthier, I promised myself I wouldn’t go near them anymore. Not because they’re that terrible for you, but because I thought, “I’m an adult. I know better,” and it would be a slippery slope back into my old habits. I haven’t touched them in several years.
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However, a homemade, healthy imitation of Spaghetti-Os? I’m on board. For those of you unfamiliar with the soft little O noodles swimming in a thick tomato soup base (with or without slightly questionable meatballs), this dish is basically a smooth, tangy tomato soup with noodles and meatballs. Super kid-friendly, and super fun for all of us kids-at-heart (and at-tastebuds). I just got the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, which is just awesome—highly recommended. So many recipes on my to-make list. This one was an immediate must-make because of my storied history with Spaghetti-Os, despite the fact that it’s in the kid-friendly section of the book and I neither have children, nor am one myself. Who cares? This was delicious.
