Banana Chocolate Cupcakes

I wanted to do something different with my over-ripe bananas besides make boring old banana bread, so I decided to go for banana chocolate cupcakes! I used a recipe from The Cupcake Project which also includes a home-made Macadamia nut butter frosting. I just used store bought cream-cheese frosting because I think its the yummiest frosting EVER. I also used semi-sweet baking chocolate instead of dark chocolate just because I already had it on hand. Next time, I think I will try the dark chocolate.

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 8 oz dark chocolate, melted

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, and baking soda. Add vanilla and mashed bananas. Stir in melted chocolate. (To melt chocolate, I used a pot of boiling water with a metal bowl sitting on top and let the chocolate slowly melt in the bowl).

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes at 350F. Cool completely before frosting.

Makes 18 regular or 36 mini cupcakes.

I also tried a new frosting method. Instead of just smoothing the frosting on with a knife or a spatula, I spooned the frosting inside a baggy and smooshed it all down to the bottom. I cut off the tip of one of the corners of the baggy and ta da! home-made icing bag! So I just slowly squeezed out the icing from the tip of the baggy and made a spiral pattern on the top of the cupcake. Pretty!

Black Bean and Rice Stuffed Peppers

Some of you have asked for my other stuffed pepper recipe and here it is! I prefer this recipe over the last one, but they are both delightful!

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup white rice, cooked
• 4 medium green onions sliced (1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbls vegetable oil
• 2 Tbls lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large bell peppers cut lengthwise, seeds removed
• 1 roma tomato diced

Heat grill. Mix beans, rice, onions, cilantro, oil, lime juice, garlic and salt together. Fill peppers with mixture. Wrap each half in a piece of foil (stuffed side up, duh), making sealed packets. Allow a little space in the packet for circulation and expansion. 

Grill for 15-20 minutes or until peppers are tender. 

Grilled Salmon and Stuffed Bell Peppers

This dinner is mostly prepared on the BBQ which is a nice treat for a warm summer evening. It's also a little bit more time consuming than most of my dinners and also involved many ingredients which can be a bit overwhelming. But, don't worry - its totally worth it!

These recipes are from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine.

Grilled Salmon with Feta topping:

• feta crumbled
• fresh squeezed lemon juice
• fresh dill
• olive oil
• salmon fillets
• coarse salt and ground pepper

In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, dill, olive oil and feta. Gently mix and put in refrigerator.

Heat grill over medium high. Clean and lightly brush salmon with oil (I use PAM grilling spray). Brush salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap salmon in foil and place on grill about 6 minutes and flip for 6 more minutes. Check salmon - should be opaque.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers:

First of all, did you know Quinoa is pronounced, keen-wah? Yeah, me neither! Also, I halved the recipe below because I was only making this for S and I and didn't need 4 bell peps.

• 1 cup traditional Quinoa  (I used Trader Joes)
• 2 cups water
• 4 large green bell peppers
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1-28oz can tomatoes, coarsely diced, reserve juice
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1-12 oz jar Mexican salsa
• 2 Tbsp dry sherry
• 10 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cut bell peppers in half, lengthwise. Place in a BBQ safe baking dish. I used a small foil pan.

In a saute pan, saute onion and mushrooms in the butter. YUM! Add the diced tomatoes (reserve the juice). Add the crushed garlic and salsa. Cook over medium for 10 minutes. Add sherry and simmer for 10 more minutes. Fold in quinoa.

Fill peppers with quinoa mixture. This will use about half of the mix. Thin remainder with reserved tomato juice and pour around peppers. Sprinkle mozzarella over peppers. Bake (or grill) at 325 F for 30-35 minutes.

Plate the meal and put the feta over the top of the salmon! 

Summertime Dessert

This is my idea of a summertime dessert: