Banana Bread

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar (or slightly less)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup butter, melted

Grease and flour loaf pans. The original recipe called for two 7 x 3 inch loaf pans but Steph prefers four mini loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, soda, salt and sugar. Mix in the slightly beaten eggs and mashed bananas. Slowly stir in the melted butter just until incorporated. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. If you use the mini loaf pans, adjust to about 30 minutes. Just take a peek and if the top is starting to brown and looks cooked, try the toothpick to test for doneness. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Additional Thoughts:
- Banana size varies drastically. Today I used the largest I have used in the past and the bread was so moist and flavorful. If you have really small bananas, add an extra half.
- What is a ripe banana? Well, I like mine almost all brown with some specs of yellow. Once I used all brown and it smelled a bit like alcohol. I think they were fermenting and on their way to banana liqueur
- Mash bananas well with a potato masher or fork but leave some small chunks. Don’t go all the way to baby food consistency.
- Do NOT over mix this batter. I would not use an electric mixer – just a few circles of the wrist while incorporating the ingredients.
- Do NOT overbake. The moist, banana-y center should be soft and crumbly.
- Let the bread cool completely before storing. The edges and outside will get sticky and icky if you wrap it or put it in a ziploc too soon.

I looked around at many recipes to find one that didn't use shortening. I've made this twice now and both times it has turned out great. I doubled the recipe this morning and had enough for one 8x4 pan and two mini loaf pans. Adapted from here. I made only one change at that was to limit the amount of sugar. Even with 1/4 cup less than the original recipe called for it was still a little too sweet for my taste.

Cannellini Bean Salad

1 can (14 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1-2 T jarred olive tapenade
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Put lemon juice, sugar and olive oil in a small jar with a lid and shake (or whisk together in a bowl). Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. This is best when it can sit at room temp for 30 minutes so the flavors meld.

Adapted from this recipe. Nice simple refreshing salad. The tapenade gives it a nice salty kick. It's a great side for lunch or you could add another protein for a whole meal. I made this for lunch as a side with smoked salmon and cream cheese on crackers. I'll probably throw the smoked salmon in it tomorrow for lunch to take to work.