Eat A Chiquita

Here on the EatAChiquita.com blog, we love to share recipes featuring some of our favorite fruits and this one is no different. As Kellen Wolfe will tell you, cooking for a Vegan lifestyle can seem challenging but is much easier than it seems and can even be more rewarding! Read on for Kellen’s take on Vegan-friendly, banana cornmeal pancakes.

While just about everyone in their right mind loves a banana, every vegan I've ever known loves the fiber out of these things! So while experimenting with a recipe from the phenomenal and outstanding by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero, I came up with this variation on the book's Blueberry Corn Pancake.

Banana Corn Pancake

• 3/4 Cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Cup cornmeal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 Tbl canola oil
• 1 and 1/4 Cups plain soy milk
• 1/3 Cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbl pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 Cup bananas, sliced then mashed
• Vegan cooking spray

1. Preheat a large pan on medium heat. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

2. In a separate bowl combine all other ingredients. Add wet to dry, mix until just combined, then fold in the bananas. Be sure there aren't any huge banana chunks left! You really want well-mashed banana bits here. Do not over mix or pancakes will be tough, a few lumps are a-okay!

3. Spray pan with cooking spray. Use a 1/4 Cup measuring cup to pour batter into pan. Cook pancakes until brown on bottom and bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes for my stove. Flip pancakes over with a thin spatula and cook until bottoms are brown and pancakes are barely firm to the touch. Transfer to plates and repeat the process with remaining batter, adding more cooking spray as needed.

This was an absolute treat in the morning! If you've never tried a cornmeal pancake (or a vegan recipe, for that matter!) you'll be doubly pleased with the outcome.

Special thanks to Kellen for sharing his take on cornmeal pancakes. Kellen Wolfe is a contributor at the comic book blog, Mutant A Day.