pilaf for dessert

I don't know about you, but I grew up with a lot of rice pudding. My mom would make it with regular milk instead of cream, with raisins and just a little butter. We'd have it for dessert, then leftovers would be breakfast the next morning. My dad and I would sometimes eat leftover white rice cold, with a bit of milk and sugar. It was kind of a thing. I'll still do this for breakfast on hot summer mornings, only now I mix the nonfat milk with a bit of lowfat coconut milk, and top it with mango slices or fresh strawberries. So I'm partial to sweet pilafs for a snack, for breakfast, for dessert. It's familiar, comforting, and most of the calories come from rice - which is really not a bad thing, in my book. (Especially if you make brown rice, though admittedly I didn't do that here.)

So, when I had some bananas about to go bad one day, I decided to make bananas foster - rice. I cut the four bananas lengthwise, then sliced the halves into 1/2"-thick half-rounds (approximately). I melted 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter, added a tablespoon of brown sugar, some vanilla, and spices (I think I used nutmet, cloves ... and maybe ginger or cardamom?). I added the bananas and cooked them over medium heat until the bananas were soft and the butter/sugar cooked into a thick syrup. Meanwhile, I cooked 1 cup of basmati rice with 2 cups of water. When the bananas were soft and the rice was fluffy, I stirred it all together. Try it - it's a good, simple treat!