Foodie Friday- Plantains!!

I couldn’t really leave Venezuela without doing a Foodie Friday on PLANTAINS!!

Platanos (in Spanish) are one of my favorite foods here. You can make fried plantains, baked plantains, sauted plantains, or boiled plantains.  (to be read in a "Bubba" voice. Sorry I just watched Forrest Gump, I couldn't resist.)

Plantains are in the banana family, but are bigger than bananas and have more potassium.

They are also a great source of fiber, magnesium, folate, and vitamins C and A. 

If you've never tried them, next time you go to a Mexican/Latin restaurant, see if they're on the menu!

They can be cooked while still green, but I like them better when they are very ripe, because they’re sweeter. You can even wait until the whole peeling is brown. 

Note: Don't eat raw! I mean, I guess you could if you really wanted to, but it's no good.

Here's the "correct" way to peel plantains:

Now, you're ready to cook them. 

If you want to fry them, just put them in a pan of hot oil, and cook until golden brown, like this:

Pic and nutrition facts found here.

If you want to bake them, cover with butter (or for a healthier option- olive oil) and bake like you would  potato. (I'm not sure for how long because VZ ovens are different, so keep an eye on them if you bake them.)

You can also boil them. Just put the plantains pieces in a pot of boiling water and boil until plantains float and are soft (time depends on how ripe the plantain was). Remove from pot, mash up with fork. Usually eaten with butter and/or shredded cheese.

You can also saute them (as seen in picture below). Heat a non-stick pan. Put butter (or olive oil) on both sides of plantain and put in pan. Then cover. Cook on low heat until golden & brown and then flip. I'd like to pretend that I burned the plantain on the left on purpose, so my sweet blog readers would know what a burnt plantain looks like. ha, yeah right!

Have you ever tried plantains?

Do you have a favorite plantain recipe?