Brown, yellow, green, short and stubby, thin and long. They come in so many varieties. What to do with plantains? I’m at the market and my mind creates an image of a plate with tostones (smashed fried green plantains), mariquitas (smaller and thinner smashed green plantains), and fufu de platanos (mashed green plantain with loads of garlic and olive oil). That was then and this is now.
Now when I go through the produce section and gaze at green plantain, the image of the plate goes beyond those three dishes. Little did I know that you can create dessert dishes using plantains. This past Mother’s Day, my soon-to-be daugther-in-LOVE, made plantain brownies. What a treat! Who would have said that those delicious brownies were flourless, dairy-free, and contained green plantains! Definitely, not my Cuban grandmother’s brownies! They were amazing!
The next day I came down with the green plantain itch. What other things can I make with my new kitchen staple? I started researching and finding out all the benefits of green plantains and the many ways to cook and bake with them. Since my favorite meal is breakfast, I went on a pancake recipe hunt.
After what I thought was 10 minutes (which turned out to be 40 cyber minutes), I found a pancake recipe. Making sure I had all the ingredients, I prepped for next day’s breakfast dish. The recipe from The Paleo Mom is simple: 6 ingredients and a blender. The only suggestion I would make to her recipe is in the peeling of the plantains.
Peeling this fruit can be challenging, but after being taught this skill by my mother-in-LOVE, the peels slides off. First, cut the ends; then use the knife to slice lengthwise through the thick peel in three sections. Take a plantain and run each under running cold water while peeling off each of the three sections. Besides this change in the recipe, I followed everything as she said. Her servings say 6 large pancakes; I was able to make 9.
Enjoy making these Perfect Paleo Pancakes.