This recipe is a nice, easy weekday meal. In fact, it was the first meal I made solo after giving birth to Theo that didn’t involve microwaving something I pulled out of the freezer. That would be the 6 week mark. Officially on the mend, officially returning to life as usual – or as much as it can be usual considering we now have an adorable little boy in the house!
In any case, this is adapted from All Recipes. It’s a pretty quick meal if you are only frying one plantain. I had four super-ripe (black) plantains, so it took a bit more time than I would have liked to fry everything up in batches, so just be aware. That’s probably the longest part. I waited to fry the plantains until the rice was already finished, but if you make several batches, you could start them at the same time.
| Puerto Rican Black Beans + Rice with Fried Plantains |
- BLACK BEANS + RICE:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup uncooked white rice (I used jasmine)
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium, low fat vegetable or chicken broth
- 3 1/2 cups canned black beans, drained
- 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes (optional)
- cumin, cayenne pepper, seasoning salt and pepper to taste
- FRIED PLANTAINS:
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying (or enough to cover plantain slices half-way)
- 3-4 super ripe plantains, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- salt + garlic powder to taste (if making savory)
- For the beans + rice: In a stockpot over medium-high heat, heat the oil.
- Add the onion and garlic and saute for 4 minutes.
- Add the rice and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the spices, tomatoes and black beans.
- Then for the plantains: Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
- Place a few plantain slices in the oil, and cook until lightly golden in color, about three minutes.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Repeat with the remaining slices.
- OPTIONAL: While the plantain slices are still warm, place them one at a time between two sheets of wax paper, and flatten by hand to 1/4 inch thick. Return flattened slices to the skillet, and continue frying until golden brown. Drain on paper towels, and season with salt and garlic powder. Alternatively, you could semi-flatten them during the first few steps while they are frying and skip this step altogether.
