Last night I had the opportunity to participate in “Go Bananas After Dark” a fun, night of food and all things banana, courtesy of Dole Bananas.  My hometown of Jacksonville, Florida was recently named one of three “top banana” cities in the country (in addition to Salt Lake City and Minneapolis).

To celebrate the occasion, Dole Bananas teamed up with Chef Chriss Brown of  927 Events to present a four course meal surrounding unique ways to incorporate bananas into everyday dishes.

It was a fantastic dinner and I’m now inspired to try and cook more with bananas…more than just breakfast!

Our meal started out with Banana, Ham and Cheese Quesadillas –  it was a combo I was hesitant of, but I loved it.  I really think this would be a meal that Maggie would enjoy eating, I may give it a try for lunch soon!

Our second course was a Curried Banana Salad, made with diced bananas, curry powder, celery, cashews and plain, nonfat yogurt. It was a great salad and I also think it would be a great as a sandwich – kind of a spin off of chicken salad.

Ham, Cheese and Banana Quesadilla

Curried Banana Salad

Next up – the entree!  We were served a Island Kabobs with Tropical Fruit Salsa and Mayport Shrimp (local food!) along side jasmine rice.  The grilled bananas on the skewers were delicious. I wanna know how you grill a banana and not have it turn to mush?!

And finally…dessert!  Probably my favorite dish of the night!  A grilled banana boat topped with milk chocolate morsels and marshmallows.  It was so good, I helped myself to seconds!

Island Kabobs with Tropical Fruit Salsa

Grilled Banana Boat with Chocolate and Marshmallows

Check out these fun facts from Dole Bananas about America’s favorite fruit!

• More than 96% of U.S. households purchase bananas at least once a month.
• Americans consume an average of 28 pounds of bananas each year!
• Almost all bananas consumed in the U.S. are eaten for breakfast or lunch.

What’s your favorite dish to make that uses bananas?   Which of the dishes shown above would you like to try?

** Besides my dinner, I received no additional compensation for this post.  Thoughts and opinions here are 100% my own and not influenced by others.**