Black Bean and Plantain Tacos

Okay people, we can all agree that Taco Tuesday is the best day of the week because tacos are probably one of the most delicious foods ever created. (There is a reason they wrote the book, Dragons Love Tacos, AND, Dragons Love Tacos 2. If you don't have children and therefore have not read those books, I highly suggest them. Anyway, tacos are amazing. But are you looking for a way to up your taco game? Because I am always game for upping my taco game. Wow I just said game a lot. I digress.

Anyway, so we FINALLY MOVED INTO OUR HOUSE! And it is amazing and glorious and a wreck. Someday, in like a year, when we get it all put together again, I will post some pictures. But I am LOVING cooking on my beautiful gas range and my big countertops, although I have now realized we didn't choose a sealed quartz so it scratches SUPER easy and I am terrified of it. But nevertheless, I love it. So we have moved in, life is crazy, and my sweet friend brought us over the nicest house warming gift, a big bag of produce. In that bag of produce was plantains. She sent me a text later saying, 'You'll have to teach me how to use the plantains,' and I messaged back, 'I have never used a plantain in my life.' So I did what I always do and I typed in 'vegan plantain recipes' into Pinterest (food is the only thing I use Pinterest for, I just get better results than google.) Originally I was thinking I could do like a dessert type empanada, and I still want to, but I saw a picture of black bean and plantain tacos and I was SOLD.

So I read the recipe just to figure out how to actually cook the plantains. Do I deep fry them? Pan fry them? Bake them? How ripe do they need to be? So many questions. So much unknown.

So I got started and first of all, these plantains were so ripe. Like I could just eat them like a banana ripe. And I may have eaten like 1/4 one just like a banana, and they are huge so it was probably like eating 1/2 a banana. I was pleasantly surprised. I have always heard plantains are gross raw, so I guess people just don't let them sit long enough.

So I peeled and sliced the plantains and cooked them in a tiny bit of oil until golden on each side. Before this, I cooked some black beans and then combined them with some sautéed onion, garlic, Anaheim pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and water to make refried black beans. (Works better for tacos with kids. Everything sticks to it.) Then I whipped up some fresh mango pico de gallo and Walla! Dinner.

Man oh man, they were so good. The crispiness and sweetness of the plantains with the savory tacos plus that acidic flavorful pico was like a punch in the mouth of deliciousness. So good. I want them every night. So if you have a bunch of plantains laying around, you can drop them on my porch and I will use them.

Ingredients

1/2 white onion

1 Anaheim pepper

3 cloves garlic

Black beans, dry or canned

Cumin

Chili powder

Salt

Paprika

4 large RIPE plantains

Oil

3 Tomatoes

1 Mango

1 Lime

1 tsp Agave

Cilantro

Tortillas

Directions

1. Combine 1/4 onion (diced), 1/2 the Anaheim (diced), and 2 cloves garlic (diced) and sauté in oil until soft.

2. Add cooked beans, cumin, chili powder, salt, and paprika to taste.

3. Add water 1/4 c at a time and puree to make refried beans.

4. Meanwhile, peel and slice plantains on a diagonal. Heat pan and add 1 tsp oil and fry on each side until golden.

5. Dice remaining onion, Anaheim, garlic, tomatoes, and mango and combine with lime juice, agave, cilantro, and cumin to taste.

6. Build your tacos and enjoy!