Better-for-you Banana Bread

Little things are as wonderful as when you find a recipe that turns one of your favorite treats into something a bit healthier. It should be noted that until I was married I actually thought banana bread was healthy.  Oh sad day. 

Ben's mother bought him a copy of The America's Test Kitchen HEALTHY Family Cookbook.  For his birthday.  There are so many recipes in here I want to try, like homemade granola bars mmmmmm.  But naturally I started with a favorite.

Better-for-you Banana Bread:

FLOUR MIXTURE
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tea baking powder
3/4 tea baking soda
1/2 tea salt
1/4 tea ground cinamon
14/ tea ground nutmeg


BANANA MIXTURE
1 1/2 cups large ripe bananas, peeled and mashed well (this will be about 3 medium or 2 1/2 large bananas, do not exceed the 1 1/2 mark or your loaf will be gummy and dense.  Also, make sure they are ripe.  There is a whole paragraph in the cook book informing you how partially blackened bananas are necessary for optimal taste)
4 TB unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1/4 cup lowfat plain yogurt of lowfat sourcream (do not substitute nonfat, needs to be lowfat)
1 tea vanilla

optional
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse (I haven't done this option yet)

1.  Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly coat an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.

2.  Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk the wet ingredients.

3.  Gently fold the banana mixture and walnuts (if using) into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined (do not overmix).  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

4.  Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 55-65 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking.

5.  Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 min, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool for 1 hour before serving.

Ben actually likes this better than my old all-white-flour-loads-of-cooking-oil recipe.  It truly is divine.  And just as easy as the other (I made this whole thing while Reid took a nap today . . . and I was super noisy and he didn't even wake up).  Try it, you'll thank me. 

Glorious Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

This recipe was so yummy!  Ben and I both really loved it and we will definitely add it to our list of regular meals.  I wouldn't call it easy, more like an easy moderate.  The steps aren't hard or anything, they are just time consuming.  It will take about 20 minutes to prep and you can't walk away during the middle of it.  We only cooked the Mushrooms for about 18 minutes, but I think our caps were smaller than called for (we had 6). Rosemary sour cream skin in mashed potatoes went really well with the dish.

• 4-6 whole Portobello Mushroom Caps
• Olive Oil
• ½ pounds Bulk Italian Sausage, Or Links With Casings Removed
• 2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 whole Onion
• 1 bulb Fresh Fennel
• 1 whole Bell Pepper, Any Color
• 3 stalks Celery, With Leaves
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 3 sprigs Rosemary
• ¾ cups White Wine (can Substitute Stock/broth)
• ½ cups Shredded Monterey Jack, Plus Extra For Sprinkling
• 4 slices Good Sandwich Bread, Toasted And Cubed
• 1 whole Egg, Lightly Beaten

1. Wipe the portobellos clean with a paper towel and scrape out the gills with a spoon. Drizzle enough olive oil in the bottom of a glass baking dish to coat. Place portobello caps in the baking dish, top down, drizzle with oil, and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 450F.
3. Brown sausage in a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil and the crushed red pepper over medium high heat.
4. While the sausage is browning, dice the onion, fennel, and bell pepper, chop the celery, and slice the garlic as thin as you can get it. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stems and finely chop.
5. Add the veggies and garlic and rosemary to the skillet and saute with the sausage until crisp-tender, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and allow to cook for another 5 minutes or so.
7. Stir in the shredded cheese and bread cubes. The bread cubes should soak up whatever wine remains in the pan.
8. Taste it at this point, and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (or more red pepper!). Stir in the beaten egg. The stuffing mixture should seem a little wet.
9. Mound stuffing mixture into portobello caps. It’s ok to pack it down a little bit to make sure that it stays in place.
10. Sprinkle with a little extra shredded cheese. Bake at 450F for 35-40 minutes, or until the portobello is tender and the stuffing is golden brown.

Side ideas:  Crusted bread and salad, rosemary and sour cream skin in mashed potatoes, or couscous