Brown Rice & Bananas

This dish contains more than brown rice and bananas, but since they are my favourite part of this recipe they get to star in the title! More often than not, by the end of the week I am left with bananas that will never make the trip to work without becoming too battered and bruised for my taste. Generally I toss them in the freezer for a future banana bread making frenzy - it's nice to make a few loaves or pans of muffins all at once (that recipe is upcoming, I just need to upload the picture!) - but sometimes I like to put them to another use.

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I just love the sweetness of the banana with the other savoury ingredients in this dish. The array of different textures is also very pleasing as is the satisfaction of knowing you are nourishing your body well with healthy food!

Brown Rice & Bananas

• 1 cup sweet, short grain brown rice (I just love all forms of sticky rice, but feel free to use any plain old brown rice for this)
• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium sized sweet potato, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 medium or large onion, diced (I just used a regular spanish onion, but a sweet variety would be great!)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (some chopped fresh chiles would be great instead, just add to taste)
• 1-2 bananas, sliced

Cook rice in a pot on the stove top or in a rice cooker. Meanwhile, chop up all ingredients except for the bananas.

When the rice is almost done, heat your olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the sweet potato first and sauté until soft, stirring often. Next, add the onion and red pepper flakes, sauté until all is slightly browned, stirring often. Add the garlic and sauté for about 2 more minutes, still stirring often.

Turn down the heat to low and stir in the rice. Once well incorporated, add the sliced bananas, stir again, remove from heat and serve.

**One thing to note: the bananas will not reheat well. If you plan to have leftovers just add the bananas to the rice once plated.

Enjoy!