Learning to Love

I am not a fan of bananas. I pick them out of fruit salad. I gag on banana flavored popsicles. I pass on banana cream pie. Eat a whole banana? Never.
Then someone at work mentioned how they only like their bananas when they are still fairly green. Intrigued, I tried a slightly under-ripe banana. To my surprise I liked it much better than a ripe one. I still don't love them, but now I eat them for their nutrition and portability. (Is there an easier snack than a banana?)
But that means I have a very small window in which I like to eat bananas. What do I do with all of those ripe bananas?

Perfect for some, too ripe for me

I have a late class at the gym tonight, so I wanted to have a filling snack when I got home from work. I decided to give Banana Soft Serve a shot, since I already had a large banana in the freezer.
A few of my favorite bloggers are vegan (Peas and Thank You, Oh She Glows). They both eat Banana Soft Serve as a non-dairy alternative to ice cream. They both credit Gena at Choosing Raw with the concept.
The concept is a very simple one. Freeze bananas and puree in the food processor or blender. They claim the results rival the taste and texture of soft serve ice cream. My Mom tried this a few months ago and raved about it. Being the banana-hater that I was, I was skeptical.Very skeptical.

Banana 'Soft Serve'
Place one frozen banana (chopped) into your food processor or blender. Mix until smooth, light and fluffy. The longer you puree, the smoother the texture will be.
The mix in possibilities are endless: vanilla extract, peanut butter, coffee, berries, nuts, cocoa powder, etc.

Here is what I put in my 'naner soft serve this afternoon:

• 1 large frozen banana
• 5 frozen strawberries
• splash of soy milk
• 1/2 scoop Chocolate Amazing Meal

I pulsed in the Ninja blender until smooth. I added a few Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips on top.

I will admit, I am a Banana Soft Serve convert. I am not going to claim that this was as good as soft serve ice cream. But it was close. Very close. Why is it so creamy?! Delicious, non-dairy, non-fat, no-sugar-added. Heck, you could eat this for breakfast without feeling guilty.

Tips:

• Peel and chop your bananas before freezing. I spent five icy- fingered minutes trying to peel a frozen banana. Not easy and oh so humbling.
• Blend/process your banana a long time. One blogger recommends 5 minutes. I'm not sure if I didn't blend long enough but I felt like it could have been a little smoother. Maybe the strawberries threw off the texture.

Today's lesson: Always listen to your mother and eat your banana. I will, as long as its soft serve!