All hail the Queen of Banana Breads 🍌
*The bread, not me. Plus, we try TikTok konjac jelly, and make a beautiful smoked mussels pasta.
Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we get back on our baking schedule, and make a beautiful seafood pasta. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Pecan banana bread with caramelized banana at home
Base recipe from Chloe Coscarelli
Despite the fact that ripe bananas absolutely give me the ick in their natural form, banana bread is breakfast royalty – pumpkin, apple, and zucchini can all take a backseat. There is something about the overripe fruit that bakes up to a perfect soft gentle fragrant sweetness in loaf form. My favorite, no-fail banana bread recipe is from Chloe Coscarelli and it is vegan simply because it’s the best banana bread recipe I know, not on any ethical or moral high grounds. You know it’s good because it’s called a banana cake, not a banana bread, although whenever I make it, I cut the sugar in half. I’ve previously made it in a tahini-date iteration here, but this might be my best attempt yet: Decreasing the amount of white flour from 2 cups to 1.5 cups (180 grams) and adding 60 grams of almond flour in its place, a cup of toasted chopped pecans (never chocolate chips!!), and for the pièce de résistance, adding a banana, sliced lengthwise and dipped in brown sugar on both sides, for a gourmet bananas-flambé topping (visual aid here).
White chocolate matcha cookies at home
Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum.
I’m a big fan of white chocolate chips in cookies. I know, I know, you think white chocolate isn’t chocolate but yes it is. I would like to argue that white chocolate chips in cookies is actually better than having regular (or dark chocolate chips). That is because the primary issue of having chocolate chips in anything is that the flavor of chocolate quickly overpowers any other flavors, especially if they’re floral or fruity. That’s why, for example, I refuse to put chocolate chips in banana bread. But white chocolate provides the melt and textural contrast that makes cookies so great, without overpowering a light flavor, like matcha tea here. These cookies are a riff off my easiest go-to chocolate chip cookies recipe, just with the addition of a teaspoon of good matcha (you already know I’m an Ippodo stan).
Spaghetti with smoked mussels, baby spinach, garlic and lemon at home
At your own tiny home.
This is a truly beautiful pasta, not only in how it looks but how the flavors meld together: The salty, smoky, briny taste of the sea, the garlic and fatty olive oil. A pinch of citrus to meet the sea, and a smattering of red pepper flakes. It’s so good I made it twice in a row for dinner last week. You just need to boil 4oz of dried spaghetti. Meanwhile, add a large glug of good olive oil to a hot pan, a pinch of red pepper flakes, two crushed cloves of garlic, and one can of undrained smoked mussels. Throw in two large handfuls of baby spinach, add drained pasta, and pasta water to taste, until the sauce clings to the spaghetti. Enjoy.
Jelly B Drinkable Konjac Jelly, apple flavor at TESO life
I feel slightly hesitant to share my review of this konjac jelly on my newsletter – on the one hand, it’s really delicious, and satisfies my nostalgic craving for those choking-hazard lychee jelly cups of 90’s yore. On the other hand, it’s touted as a “low calorie food” and is rampant all over Asian girl Tik Tok, which makes me feel like it’s ripe fodder for disordered eating, especially when the Amazon reviews talk about replacing meals with jelly. So interpret that as you will, and obviously don’t eat this instead of a meal (I think it might do bad things to your digestive system if you do).
Vodka slice from Made in New York Pizza
421 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024
I was raised in New Jersey and moved to New York, so I’ve been blessed with great pizza for my entire life, minus the give-or take 3-4 years I was in Boston and then DC, but back then I was being diligent about my lactose intolerance anyways so I didn’t miss out. The best bad day, or just long day dinner of all time is an extra-large vodka pizza slice, which you have to let them heat up in-store so it’s crispy on the bottom and not just gooey on top, a small salad of romaine with ranch (or in this case, Trader Joe’s Vegan Creamy Dill Dressing), and a beer. I am absolutely not a beer girl, except for the months of March - August maybe, and only with pizza or hamburgers or a very good friend. But everything goes together perfectly in this combo: I like vodka slice much more than margarita, even, because it tastes super rich while still being digestible, and you can take a bite of the salad and a bite of the pizza for the trifecta of Ranch dressing, melty cheese, and crispy lettuce. The only thing that can complete this meal is a cookie, but thankfully I’ve already made some.
XOXO,
Soph
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