Oven Roasted Plantains

What do you get when you mix a potato with a banana? You get a plantain! They are starchy, sweet and delicious. Unfortunately, most recipes call for deep frying them. We don't often deep fry at home, because a) it's not too healthy, and b) it makes a pretty big mess. My husband made a big batch of pork chili verde this weekend which gave me the opportunity to make these oven roasted plantains as an accompaniment.   

Oven Roasted Plantains

serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 half-ripe plantains (between green and black)
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Adobo seasoning

Proper peeling for plantains

Directions

Preheat a half sheet pan on the bottom rack of your oven at 425 F. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whisk together lime juice, vegetable oil and Adobo seasoning. Prepare plantains: slice off both ends, and run a small paring knife down the side of the fruit to open the peel. Remove peel like a jacket.

Slice into 1/4 inch slices and gently coat in the lime juice mixture. Once your oven is preheated, carefully place a sheet of parchment paper on the hot pan and add the plantains; spreading them out into one even layer. Bake for 15 minutes. Drop the heat to 400 F and turn over each plantain slice. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until plantains are softened and cooked through. This is the perfect opportunity for a taste-test! Serve warm or at room temperature.

I like to dip the plantains in a lime mayonnaise: 1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise, juice from 1/2 lime and a pinch of salt.

Plantains caramelized from their trip in the oven.

Slow Cooker Tomatilla Beef

This has quickly become a go-to dinner recipe for our household. The tender, flavorful chuck roast is as good over rice as it is tucked into corn tortillas. I get a little help from Herdez cooking sauce, but in a pinch any salsa will do. Chuck roast, which is widely used for pot roasts, cooks down in the crock pot beautifully. The fat renders and the meat becomes fork-tender. 

Slow Cooker Tomatilla Beef

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs, beef chuck roast, cubed into 2 inch pieces
• 1 onion sliced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup Herdez "Tomatilla Verde" Cooking Sauce
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• salt
• pepper

Directions

Preheat large skillet over medium high heat. Remove excess moisture from cubed beef with paper towels. Liberally salt and pepper the beef. In two to three batches, brown beef in skillet. Do not crowd the pan! Remove beef to slow cooker/crock pot as you brown it. 

Add the sliced onions and garlic to the pan and saute 5-8 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add the onions and garlic to the slow cooker, pour in tomatilla cooking sauce and cumin and stir to combine. Cook on low for 9 hours. 

Remove beef, onions and garlic and allow to rest 10-15 minutes before serving. Pour cooking juices into a gravy strainer and remove excess fat. Reserve juice for serving with the beef. Serve over rice and beans or in corn tortillas.