Plantains with Caribbean Black Beans

I made this the other day and was flooded with requests for a recipe.  Quite unfortunately, I don’t have one.  Most of my meals are “made up” by tossing a bunch of stuff in an iron skillet and hoping it turns out.  Thankfully, it usually does.  That said, here’s what I did.

Plantains with Caribbean Black Beans

• 3 ripe plantains
• 1 can black beans
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 small onion
• 1 cubanelle pepper
• 1 mango
• 1 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil) + more for cooking the plantains
• 1 – 2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1/2 – 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 – 2 cloves minced garlic
• Salt, pepper to taste

Peel the sweet potato and dice into smallish pieces, dump into a pot of boiling water and cook until just tender.  Careful not to overcook. Drain and set aside.  Prepare the onion, cubanelle, and the mango by (peeling) dicing them.  Peel the plantain and cut into wedges.  Open the can of black beans and drain most of the liquid out- I use a bit of the liquid (about a 1/2 of the can) in the sauce.  Set aside.

Heat a large iron skillet and add coconut oil.  Add plantains.  Cook on each side until golden and crispy.  If you’ve never cooked plantains before, never fear- they’re easy!  Read -> Perfect Plantains to help get you started.  Once the plantains are cooked, set aside.

Add the oil to a large saucepan and saute the garlic, onion, and cubanelle peppers for a few minutes.  You want them about halfway cooked.  Add the black beans, mangoes, and spices.  Combine well.  Cook on medium low until the mango and cubanelle peppers are soft and yummy, about 10 minutes.

When everything is done, pile on a plate and enjoy!

PS

The next time I make this (it was good, you should make it) I might try a few things to see if it improves the dish.  I’d probably give my sweet potatoes (after they’ve been boiled) a quick stir in the iron skillet to get a nice crispy coating on them.  I may even try to do it at the same time I’m cooking my plantains.  I also really liked the sweet spicy of the sauce in the black beans, I might leave more liquid in the beans for more sauce.  But these are minor things, overall this was really tasty.  It made enough to feed two hungry vegans and lunch for one the next day.