Vegan Ice Cream

I'm neither vegan or vegetarian, but a lover of all good food. Truth be told, I don't often care what's in food as long as it's tasty (i.e. hot dogs at the ballpark). The more I discover and try more vegan inspired chow, the more impressed I am with this healthy, creative and delicious diet.

Right now my adventures in vegan food are limited, because I rarely have all the fancy ingredients on hand. Vegans use tons of interesting spices, herbs and veggies while I shy away from recipes when the ingredient list is too long. Vegans are also unafraid to get the food processor out. Clearly, I'm too lazy and not creative enough as a cook to make vegan food on a regular basis, yet.

But I did find something easy and yummy...gotta' start somewhere, so why not with dessert??

My inspiration came when a friend and I went to Treat Dreams in Ferndale for a post-dinner dessert. When I get a mint chocolate chip ice cream craving, look out. The only one they had available had a "Vegan" sign on it. It didn't matter. Come hell or high water, I needed my mint chocolate chip ice cream, whether it had dairy or not. It was outstanding.

Hence, when I came across this banana ice cream recipe, I couldn't believe it. It was easy enough, having no more than 3 ingredients, but it had endless possibilities! I pulled out the food processor and made it. I'm never going to dis my food processor and its power again. The texture is so close. I added some crunchy peanut butter and hot chocolate mix (gotta' use what ya' got, right?) Wow, quite delicious, easy, naturally sweet and not nearly as fattening as ice cream.

I went looking for more recipes, particularly for mint chocolate chip, and here's some I like:

• Original Banana Ice Cream Recipe - Amazing. The texture of frozen ripe bananas pureed is fantastic. Lots of flavor experimentation is in my future with this one. Probably a lot of mint.
• Raw Mint Chocolate Chip - This vegan recipe is a little involved for me. One day I'll suck it up and try it. 
• Paleo Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - Has eggs in it, but this looks like my favorite to try next.
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Dairy-Free) - another involved vegan one (in my opinion, remember, I'm a lazy cook). I like the idea of using avocado for creaminess, though.

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