When I first made the decision to go vegan, I was pretty excited about it. I went to Barnes and Noble and copied (by hand!) tons of recipes because I was in college and too poor to purchase any of the books I was coveting. I started this blog. I cooked and cooked. What I wasn’t excited to do, however, was tell my then-boyfriend, because eating was one of our favorite shared pastimes and so it would obviously affect him. And when I say eating, I mean eating ice cream. Lactose intolerant for as long as I can remember, I constantly ignored the pissy complains of my irritated stomach as I ate cone after cone of mocha chip throughout the summers (and fall. And spring. And winter, although I would eat it out of a pint while sitting on a heater, shivering).
I love ice cream. The creamy texture and sweet flavor can’t compare to any other treat. Within the half hour after eating the stuff, however, I would be on my back with a grumbling, cramping stomach whining (usually to that boyfriend) “Rub my stomach! Please! Rub it!” Because of my love for dairy (cheese was another perpetrator!) and my refusal to take those weird Lactaid pills—stubborn, I know—stomach rubbing was a nightly bed-time ritual.
When I finally did tell my ex, he looked at me and said, “But what about the ice cream?” GOD Z THINK ABOUT THE ICE CREAM. Since I ditched it those years ago, I can tell you I don’t need any more stomach rubs. But I do, however, need an ice cream placebo.
Enter my savior: the frozen banana.
While store bought vegan ice creams are available, and delicious (I love coconut based ones!) I prefer to make my own. And unlike some kitchen whizzes–like my friend Hannah Kaminsky, whose COUGH SHAMELESS PROMOTION new ice cream cookbook, Vegan a La Mode, is now available– I usually am too lazy to make an ice cream base. I know. The worst. I also like to eat mainly unprocessed foods, so making ice cream out of frozen bananas works best for me.
I do this in two ways. The first is with my mom’s Champion Juicer, which she lets me babysit for 6 months of the year while she is in Hawaii. The second is with my food processor. They both have their pros and cons. The Champion makes a creamy, soft serve style ice cream. But it’s a pain to put together and a drag if I want to add mix-ins—and I always want to add mix-ins. The food processor makes a scoopable, harder version, is easier to put together and clean, and allows for a girthier mix-in capacity. The Champion’s texture is better, but I usually don’t want to drag the 25 pound beast out (remember? Lazy), put it together, make the ice cream and then clean it.
Now let me tell you I love feeding my friends banana ice cream, and it was my mother who taught me how to make it. Both my friends and my mother have told me not to share the recipes on the Internet, and I admit I have a few combinations that I am hoarding for possible future cook books, or something! But I like you guys, and sharing is caring! Also I hypothesize that my mother is secretly my only reader, checking in all day from different locations and commenting under false names so it looks like I have more readers. Thanks, ma!
Because I like you, here is a recipe for Banana Chocolate Peach ice cream, made in a food processor.
Serves: 2|Cook Time: 5 Min
4 frozen bananas, chopped roughly—I do mine in “penny” shaped slices
1 cup frozen peaches (more will give it an icier texture)
3 tablespoons pure organic cocoa powder
Step one:
Put all ingredients in food processor, and pulse until creamy, using spoon to scrape down sides.
Sometimes I turn my banana ice cream into a mini-meal by adding a bit of silken tofu, which changes the texture but gives me a nice protein punch. Feel free to amend the above recipe with ½ cup silken tofu.
