Hey this isn't so weird if you have ever eaten the food of Puerto Rico! They make a wonderful dish with ripe plantains (like a bananna but not quite as strong-flavored) and ground meat with olives and sofrito (a mixture of onion garlic sweet peppers olive oil and tomatoes plus culantro) and either roll it up like pinwheels or layer it like a lasagna. The sweet and the savory are really very good together. I'll bet this rather tastes like that and I am going to try it!
The banana flavor does NOT go with hamburger!
A great alternative to regular meatloaf! The bananas don't overpower and the mustard imparts a great flavor. This also cooks up very moist. Excellent recipe.
This is NOT regular old, plain American meatloaf. This is carribean/cuban influenced. Like one of the other reviews said, you may want to substitute plantains for the bananas for a more subtle flavor. I thought this was great!
Updated 7/6/10:
Seven years and three children later this is still one of my favorite recipes, and my kids love it too! I always brush the outside with Pickapeppa sauce - it makes a nice glaze with a hint of spicy to complement the subtle sweetness of the banana. I've also made a pineapple or mango salsa to seve along side of it, but even grilled pineapple slices work great!
Quite interesting. Really moist and definitely different which is what you really need in a meatloaf. Banana taste might not appeal to all but the title may give them a clue to stay away from this one.
Great idea! The naysayers have never had Carib food. Grew up in Jamaica so I thought this was great! I served it with a little papaya chutney on the side. Update: I made this again tonight and omited the seasoning and added allspice a bit of thyme a couple of shakes of Pickapeppa and topped it with sweet catsup. Oh and used turkey meat. Hubby liked it better this way.
This was an outstanding recipe the banana put the right amount of moisture and sweetness into the meatloaf. I used a banana that was turning brown.
This was pretty good! I'm impressed! I thought it was a little weird so I figured I'd give it a try. Because I didn't have any bananas I used a pretty ripe plantain.
A very interesting alternative to regular Meatloaf! Sometimes we see bananas as simple dessert fare but many cultures use bananas or plantains in their day-to-day meal preparations.I found the bananas lended themselves well with the mustard and spices.
