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Banana bonaza By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

A perfectly portable and nutritious snack, the very versatile banana is also scrumptious in dishes from elegant desserts to savoury stews.

Go beyond banana bread and muffins with some new ideas featuring our most economical fruit. Showcase bananas in brownies, a cobbler, shortcakes and an updated cream pie. Bananas also make their mark in savoury dishes: plantains (bananas’ cooking cousins) in the roasted chicken and curried beef dishes prove it deliciously. All these recipes elevate the humble banana to tasty delights. So go ahead and see how delicious it is to give this fruit the respect it deserves.

Banana brief
When we think of bananas, those heaps of yellow ones at the supermarket come to mind. Look for ones that are yellow with a bit of green at the stem end. They will ripen in a couple of days at room temperature. For the best flavour in baked goods, let them ripen until spotty. One banana usually yields 1/2 cup (125 mL) mashed.

• Varieties that are often available in our supermarkets include baby bananas and red bananas. Baby bananas, which are not immature bananas but rather a small variety, are about 3 inches (8 cm) long, are sweeter and have a stronger flavour and firmer consistency than regular bananas. Red bananas are softer and often sweeter than regular bananas. Red bananas take longer to ripen than regular bananas and keep longer once ripe. Both baby and red bananas are generally more expensive than regular bananas.

• Plantains are classified as a fruit but are treated like a vegetable and usually cooked before eating. They are larger than bananas, but there are smaller varieties. Plantains have distinctively ridged sides and darker, thicker skins than regular bananas. They are also starchier, and their flesh is much firmer. When ripe, they add a slight sweetness to a dish. Green, unripened plantains can be boiled or pan-fried as a starch side dish. When ripe, their skin turns yellow with dark speckles and their flesh softens and sweetens. Ripen them in a paper bag, turning them every few days. Plantains take up to a week to ripen. Look for them in the produce section of the supermarket, usually next to the bananas.