Grilled Bananas & Chocolate: In Which We Become Dessert People

Last Sunday, the Husband-Elect and I were traipsing about in our bewitching Brooklyn backyard, sipping white wine and sucking the last bits of farmer’s market turkey sausage off our fingers, when two things struck us just about simultaneously: A) the mosquitoes were definitely coming from our neighbor’s bucket o’ dirty water, and B) we wanted dessert.

Which was kind of weird. See, in addition to being Not Really Beef People, Not Really Hockey People, and Definitely Not Nickelback People, we’re also Not Really Dessert People. I mean, I will never ever ever (ever) turn down a post-dinner brownie, but I won’t actively seek one out, either. I’m much more likely to have a second helping of spaghetti, or graze from tomorrow’s office lunches as I prepare them.

But yeah, we were hungry, and I remembered reading about Grilled Bananas & Chocolate (a.k.a. Banana Boats) on Slashfood a few weeks back. And – is there a possible way to go wrong with bananas and chocolate? I think no, and the continued existence of Chunky Monkey supports that assertion.

Alas, we didn’t have a computer handy, and subsequently winged the recipe based on my dim, wine-addled recall. That meant we peeled a few bananas, created a divot down the middle, stuffed ‘em with chocolate, wrapped them in tin foil, and threw them on the grill. Postgame research revealed that I got it all wrong, and Banana Boats are usually made peel-on, sans foil. To quote the bard, “D’oh!”

However, we were victorious in the end. The grilled bananas were delicious, required no cleanup, and sated us for the rest of the evening, during which we became People Who Like The Big Chill. Not too shabby.

Anyway, hope you like them as much, and have a lovely 4th. See you Monday.

P.S.: I didn’t get a picture because this was a freak, daring, seat-of-the-pants experiment. Also, I was two glasses of Chardonnay into the night and forgot. So the image below is from a lovely blog called Blisstree. Thanks, tree o’bliss!

Grilled Bananas & Chocolate
Serves 2
Image courtesy of Blisstree.

2 bananas
5 or 6 squares of any chocolate bar (Hershey’s works well)
Aluminum foil

1) Fire up the grill and peel your bananas.

2) Cut a v-shaped divot down the length of each banana, and place 2 or 3 chocolate squares in each divot.

3) Wrap bananas securely in aluminum foil and place over hot coals. (Direct heat worked for us, but if you’re more comfortable off-heat, go for it.) Grill 8 or 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

4) Unwrap and be joyous.

NOTE: During my postgame research, I saw the vast majority of these made peel-on without the foil, but I get the feeling you could do it all kinds of ways. Mine weren’t too messy, which was nice. Also, add marshmallows if you’ve got ‘em. Good times.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
176 calories, 3.5 g fat, $0.56

Calculations
2 bananas: 242 calories, 0.8 g fat, $0.66
5 or 6 squares of a larger chocolate bar (Hershey’s works well): 110 calories, 6.2 g fat, $0.45TOTAL: 352 calories, 7 g fat, $1.11
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 176 calories, 3.5 g fat, $0.56