I have recently been eating a lot of bananas. They seem to be the perfect thing for a pre-workout snack, post workout snack, per-work snack or dessert. Easy to eat, filling and often cheap. Through my recent increase of on-the-go banana consumption, I have analyzed part of the fruit economy in NY. New York City has a wonderful array of street vendors; hotdogs, coffee trucks, Halal meat trucks and fruit stands. The fruit stands is where I have been grabbing most of my bananas from. It is amazing the price difference; 30 cents is what the guy outside of my gym sells them for, the fruit stand on the corner near my house on Broadway and Houston sells them for 40 cents, but the vendor near my work charges 50 cents a banana! When I told him most other fruit guys sell them for less, he pointed at the Starbucks and said "they sell them for a dollar!" Trader Joes, as is the case for most things they sell, is where to get your cheapest banana, 19 cents.What I really wonder about when I buy fruit from the street stands is not so much about how they price their fruit, but where do they get their fruit from!?!
My favorite way to eat a banana is in a smoothie. I created this drink back in college and still make it. When the last few bananas from the bunch are going bad, peel the skin, and freeze them in a zip-lock bag. Trying to peel frozen banana skin is not an easy task. It is best to use frozen fruit when making smoothies, adding ice only dilutes the drink.
Banana Smoothie: 1 frozen banana, 1 cup milk, 1 Tbs. peanut butter, few dashes cinnamon, 1 cap full vanilla extract. Blend and enjoy!
Banana Dessert
I was at a party over the weekend where someone brought chocolate covered frozen bananas. I was very impressed with this creative addition to the usual hummus, chips, and brownies. These bananas were halved, put on wooden sticks, frozen, then dipped in almond butter, then chocolate. When I make them, I'm going to cut the bananas into marshmallow sized pieces, easier to manage at a party. But I love the idea of dipping the banana bites into peanut or almond butter, then melted chocolate, refreezing, and topping with chopped almonds or peanuts.
frozen bannanas aren't that hard to peal if you know what you're doing? use a knife, slice down a couple places and peal.
ReplyDelete2ndly ~ proper smoothie additions: frozen blueberries, ginger, macca & mesquite powder, hemp protein, ground flax, ground raw cacao, RICE MiLK, young coconut water and flesh....that should get you there....Ross Style....although hard to know what you can find in NYC, it ain't no California.