Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

So this is take two on the banana muffin. I was really craving one last week so I made the Cocoa Banana Flax Muffins from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan and was a little disappointed. They tasted alright and they had lots of good stuff in there (flax, oats, bananas), but it just didn't hit the spot. In the words of my boyfriend (and muffin modeler above): "it had too much going on." I didn't even get a picture; this is the first thing I've made from Dreena that I didn't love, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

However, this muffin from Get It Ripe totally hit the spot! It's great. It's got a lot more banana (4 medium ones mashed) and the wonderful bonus of chocolate chips. I used mini chocolate chips and they turned out adorable. These muffins use the bananas and maple syrup as the sweetener. It was simple and I dug it. These muffins will definitely get made again, and since it uses so many ripe bananas it's perfect for when you haven't been so diligent in the banana eating department, or when the weather just gets really warm and everything in your fruit bowl ripens like crazy (aka: now)!

Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Collard Greens and Chipotle Black-Eyed Peas

I'd been wanting to make this recipe since I first received Get It Ripe and finally got around to it recently. It completely met my expectations of greatness!

I used two different kinds of sweet potatoes, 2 white and 2 orange. The maple syrup brought out their sweetness beautifully and while everything else was cooking I was happy to continue "tasting" these. The collards were simply steamed and required nothing else for this dish because the potatoes and beans had so much flavor. The beans (which I had some trouble finding dried and not canned--available at Staff of Life) were cooked with zucchini, onion, chipotles and several spices. I didn't particularly care for the flavor of the beans on their own, but added to the collards and potatoes they were yummy--a very nice contrast of flavors here (spicy and sweet).

The one thing I was disappointed with was how much food this made. It says "serves 4" but I had enough food for a small army. I would say this feeds at least 6 very hungry people. We ended up having to waste quite a bit because we just couldn't eat it anymore (I even made a wrap with these and hot sauce one day to try a different way to eat it).

Kale Sesame Soba Noodles

This 'lil beauty from Get It Ripe was super fantastic! It has lightly cooked kale, arame, and soba noodles all mixed together in a sesame oil dressing. I used less noodles than called for (6 oz instead of 8) and next time would use even less; I really like the flavors of the kale and seaweed together. I also used one less tablespoon toasted sesame oil for the dressing and added crushed red peppers. I ate this for lunch for several days and was left extremely satisfied. This is a new favorite!

Zucchini Date Muffins

I had planned to make these muffins from Get it Ripe to take in the car with us for our trip, but time got too short. So, I made them when we got back. These require a fair amount of prep: pitting, chopping, soaking, and then mashing the dates, and grating 2 cups of zucchini. They turned out quite good though. They're sweet, but not overly because the dates and zucchini supply the only sweetness, and they have a nice crunch thanks to the added flax seeds. I was able to find some spelt flour, which is what the recipe called for, so this was also my first time baking with that. It gave a nice, somewhat earthy flavor here; the muffins tasted a bit like a bran muffin, even though there was none.