dark chocolate chip banana bread

Banana Bread has always been a favorite treat of mine. My mom used to make it when I was little, and I started making it myself when I lived in Boulder a few years ago. I decided to dig up the recipe this week when I noticed a few ailing bananas lying around my pod at work. It came out just as good as I remember it -- even better in fact! Luckily my coworkers enjoyed it too. I switched up the recipe a bit this time, adding dark chocolate chips and using whole wheat flour that my sister brought me from her farm in Ithaca, NY. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

4 bananas finely crushed

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (regular flour is fine too, but whole wheat is healthier and still tastes great!)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 bag of dark chocolate chips (1 full bag if you like it super chocolatey)

Preparation:

First, preheat your oven to 360 degrees F (yes, 360 -- not 350). Using a mixer, blend together the butter and sugar. Then mix in the beaten eggs and crushed bananas. Next add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the vanilla, then add your dark chocolate chips. Pour into a greased, floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least ten minutes, then eat and enjoy!

*Tips*

* It's best to use overripe bananas because they're easier to crush, but most importantly because they have a more intense flavor

*The key to this bread is the 4 bananas -- it makes it especially moist. Most banana bread recipes only call for 3

mediterranean pitas

My friend Jessica and I try to cook dinner together at least once a week. Since we both commute to our jobs, we usually don't have time to prepare anything too time consuming. These pitas are healthy, easy and super fast, so they've become a great go-to dinner for us on weeknights. Last night I made this with my roomate Jacqueline (yep, we have the same name) and they came out great, as always! Wanted to share the recipe with all of you.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pitas (or regular, if you prefer)

Cherry tomatoes, halved

1 clove garlic, sliced

1-2 big bags fresh spinach leaves

Siracha to taste

For sauce:

1-2 cups plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup feta cheese (I use low fat and it's just as good)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cucumber, cut into small cubes

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Dash of salt and pepper

Preparation:

Start by squeezing the lemon juice into a small bowl. Then chop the cucumber and 1 of the garlic cloves and add to the lemon juice. (I also usually slice the other garlic clove and the tomatoes while I'm doing this, and just set them aside.) Last mix in the feta, yogurt and add the seasoning. Super easy...your sauce is done!

Next, heat the sliced garlic in a splash of olive oil on low heat in a sauté pan. Then add the spinach and let it cook down completely. If you're hoping for leftovers, definitely be generous -- spinach cooks down a ton. While the spinach is cooking, heat the pitas either in a toaster oven or regular oven just slightly, so they become warm.

Last, cut the pitas in half, spoon in the yogurt sauce, add your spinach and top with the sliced tomatoes and siracha. This makes a delicious, healthy dinner that only takes about 15 minutes! The pitas pack in a ton of flavor -- the red pepper flakes, garlic and siracha add a nice kick.

*Special thanks to Jess for telling me about this recipe!

Toasted Baguette, Two Ways

One of my favorite things about cooking is collaborating. Many of my friends love to cook too, and we come up with tasty ideas when we put our heads together...especially if we're heading out of town and need to plan the menu ahead of time. A few months ago some of us took a trip to Tahoe, and the girls had a really yummy idea for some appetizers...

First, we toasted baguette slices in the oven and brushed them with olive oil. Then we topped them two ways:

tasty creations from #jess #rach #cait

On the left you'll see toast with goat cheese, sauteed white onions and a homemade fig spread, which we made by reducing dried figs with balsamic vinegar and red wine. On the right, we used watermelon, fresh mint and crispy pancetta, which we sauteed directly before serving so it was still warm. These proved to be very satisfying treats before dinner!

afternoon awakenings

over the past few months, i may have developed a caffeine addiction...

i find it flavor rich, warm and lifesaving.

on my plate this morning...

grapefruit topped with blackberries

and a dash of sugar or honey

is oh so appealing...

isn't it?

i love the color contrast.

today mine was particularly juicy

and delicious

so i thought i'd share.

bon appétit!

..and happy groundhog day.

-j

a little bit of zing to start off your week

picture of my juice this morning...

Happy Monday! Thought I'd start off the week by sharing a simple, refreshing recipe. It's one that has recently become a favorite of mine....juice. Yes, juice.

When I arrived back in San Francisco early this month, one of the very first things I did was buy a juicer. The idea initially came from my sisters, who have both had juicers for awhile now...they are both extremely healthy, fresh-produce kind of gals. Then, my friend Brette (who I just blogged about visiting in NYC) was talking about getting one for Christmas, so I decided I'd finally get one too.

A good beginner's juicer is the Jack LaLanne's power juicer, which I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond. It only set me back $80 and it's proved great so far. Just so you're aware, it's actually $100, but I used one of those coupons that BB&B sends millions of...

this is my exact juicer

I've actually really enjoyed juicing so far; it's interesting to be able to interact with food in a new way. It's also been fun to experiment with different flavor combinations; I've mixed up some pretty tasty juices so far. Brette and I have been comparing recipes as well -- she sends me very clever ideas, such as sweet potato, nutmeg and pear.

Yesterday I made one of my favorites and bottled it to drink today. Super simple...

Ingredients:

1 small hunk of fresh ginger, peeled

1 granny smith apple

1 cucumber

1 pear

Preparation:

First, prepare your produce. Peel both the ginger root and the cucumber -- their skins can be rough on the juicer. No need to peel the apple or pear, but slice each of them into about 4-6 pieces. I slice my cucumber into about 4 parts as well.

Next, place each piece of produce -- one slice at a time -- into the juicer. I had less ginger on hand than I would have liked yesterday, so I actually added some ground ginger at the end and it added a great kick.

Give your juice a nice stir and enjoy, or bottle to drink later. This one is extremely refreshing and delicious!

*Tips*

*Cucumbers produce a ton of juice, so they make a great staple

*Green/granny smith apples have a nice tart flavor that can cut other harsher flavors (such as carrots) nicely

*Try different things! I would have never thought of juicing a sweet potato if it weren't for Brette, but it came out really well.

*If you are a thoughtful cook and are OK with taking the time to prepare the produce and thoroughly clean the juicer, I cannot recommend getting one enough. It's been such a treat to have homemade juice whenever I want, and it's also influenced me to eat even healthier in general.

...a special thanks to Brette and Hayley for recommending this particular juicer

Herbed Mushroom Polenta

Polenta is one of those delightful foods that you can prepare all different ways. It can take on various textures and it also absorbs flavor extremely well -- the sweetness of the corn particularly compliments savory ingredients.

this is a photo of spongy polenta round 2

My sister Vanessa gave me some organic corn meal and polenta from a farm she often works with in Ithaca, NY -- Cayuga Pure Organics. She made a delicious batch of polenta with herbs de provence and portobellos for my other sister when visiting us in San Francisco in August. I was immediately hooked (nice work, Vanster).

Then over Christmas, Vanessa and I cooked it together at our parents' house in NY. This time we used farmer's market mushrooms, onions and fresh herbs. We also made it a bit more spongy than creamy. Again...delicious.

Last week I made it for a third time with my friend Jessica and we put another spin on it...truffle oil. If you read my blog often you know this is one of my favorite ingredients, so adding it was of course a natural progression ;). Third time was definitely a charm...adding mushrooms (this time shiitake), herbs de provence, fresh sage and truffle oil created the perfect combination of flavors. It tasted awesome and it's actually pretty easy to make.

That said, I'm going to share what I did the third time around, but feel free to experiment as you make it and add your own twist.

Ingredients:
Serves 2-3

1/2 cup polenta
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
2 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil, separated (1 tbsp for mushroom mixture, 1 for polenta)
1/2 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup shiitake (or any kind) mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp herbs de provence
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 tsp white truffle oil
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a large sauce pan. Add polenta and cornmeal, whisking until blended well. Reduce heat to low and cover. Revisit in 5-10 minutes or until polenta begins to absorb the water, adding the herbs de provence and 1 tbsp olive oil. Stir well, cover again and revisit to stir in 5 minutes. Continue this process for about 30 minutes.

While polenta is cooking, combine the butter and other tbsp of olive oil in a sautee pan over low/medium heat. Add the garlic and let simmer for about 2 minutes. Next, add the mushrooms and stir so they are all evenly coated in the butter/olive oil/garlic mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste, a dash of the fresh sage and an additional dash of herbs de provence. Cook for about 10 minutes, then set aside.

When polenta is done, add the milk and most of the parmesan and stir for about 2 minutes over low heat. Last, add the truffle oil, salt and pepper and stir well. The polenta should be a thick, creamy texture.

Plate the polenta and top with mushroom mixture, remaining parmesan and remaining fresh sage... Enjoy!



*Tips*

*If you don't own a jar of herbs de provence, then get one...they make an amazing addition to most dishes; the jar commonly contains thyme, basil, savory, fennel seed and lavender

*For creamier polenta, use more corn meal and add more milk at the end

*There is no hard, fast rule to the amount of time you cook the polenta...wait until it gets to a texture you like; 30 minutes is a solid minimum/average number to go by

*If you make a spongier polenta, be sure to coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil and stir often so it doesn't stick to pan

*This goes really well with herbed chicken, shrimp or a simple arugula parmesan salad

*Polenta makes for great leftovers!


...a special thanks to Vanessa for providing both the idea for this dish and the goods!