Banana meet Rosemary

My genius friend Heather had another of her genius ideas (or maybe she stole it from elsewhere, but who cares?!)...the random ingredient-inspired food club.

The idea is this: randomly pick out of a hat one fruit or vegetable and one spice or herb. Then, all invitees must make a dish with at least one of the selected ingredients (in my book, you get serious kudos if you manage to work in both).

Naturally, my first inclination was banana cream pie. I had all of these fanciful ideas of fresh bananas, shortbread crust and a subtle, but invigorating rosemary whipped cream. But then I thought, everyone is going to make dessert given how sweet bananas are, I should go for the extra challenge of making something savory out of bananas!

So, Chicken in Banana Curry here I came. I found the preliminary recipe on Food & Wine's website and then seriously doctored it up, adding coconut milk and some extra veggies for color and crunch (see recipe below).















The result was surprisingly tasty and unique. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was my favorite curry, but it was good. I don't know that I would have liked the recipe as it read out of the magazine however, as I think the coconut milk was key for creaminess.

If you're looking for something exotic, with Caribbean flavors and you want to make your guests say "banana, really?!?!" then this is certainly a recipe you should try.

RECIPE

Caribbean-style Banana Curry

2-3 medium-ripe bananas, cut into pieces
1 can coconut milk
1.5 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp ground coriander
zest of 2 limes
2 Tbsp lime juice
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 chicken breasts cut into bit-sized pieces (can use whole breasts if desired)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups of green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, diced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Place bananas, half the can coconut milk, curry powder, coriander, lime zest, lime juice, salt & pepper into a blender (or food processor) and blend until pureed. Place the chicken into a roasting pan with onion, green beans and bell pepper. Cover with the curry sauce. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Stir the remaining half of the can of coconut milk into the sauce (remove the chicken from the pan if using whole breasts). Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for next month's challenge - Sweet Potato and Cumin