Green Banana Soup
January 12, 2012 | Filed Under Green Bananas, Green Plantain, Plantains, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways, Soups | 4 Comments
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If I ever went to Ecuador, I know I’d have no problem with the cuisine and eat well there. Lolita of Lolita’s Recipes post several recipes from Ecuador and over time, I’ve tried and enjoyed many of them. Here is the latest – Green Banana Soup (Repe Lojano), a traditional soup from the province of Loja in Ecuador. Basically it’s a creamy soup of green bananas, onions, garlic, milk, cheese and cilantro (cilantro!). Instead of green bananas, green plantains may be substituted.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that I mistakenly thought that green bananas and green plantains were the same. I later learned I was wrong. They’re definitely two different foods. They taste slightly different and it takes a little longer for one of them to cook.
Depending on where you live, green plantains are more readily available than green bananas. Luckily, I have no problem finding either in the supermarket.
Lola includes tips in her post on how to peel green bananas or plantains. They can be a little hard to peel.
I made my repe lojan on Christmas Day and served it, as suggested, with avocado, cheese, and aji (an Ecuadorian hot sauce, which I love). There was a little bit of soup left over and I think it tasted even better the next day. Next time, instead of green bananas, I plan on trying the soup with green plantains.
According to Laylita, there are different variations of this soup. Arvejas con guinea is a famous version and includes split peas. Another version, repe mestizo, is made with potatoes. More variations to look forward to making.
Paz
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Repe lojano (green banana soup)
Ingredients
- 10 green bananas or 6 green plantains, peeled and diced
- 2 tbs oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 oz of cheese: quesillo, a fresh farmer’s type cheese – can also use queso fresco or mozzarella
- ½ cup of milk or cream
- 1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped – about ½ cup already chopped
- 8 cups of water
- Salt to taste
- Sides – Avocado slices, cheese slices and aji or hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oil in large soup pot, make a refrito or base for the soup by adding the diced onion and crushed garlic, cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the 8 cups of water and bring to a boil.
- Add the diced green banana or green plantain in batches, making sure that the water is boiling when you add each batch – to keep the bananas from darkening
- Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the bananas or plantains are soft, about 15-20 minutes. It will take longer for the plantains to cook than the bananas.
- In the same pot, gently mash some of the bananas pieces to help thicken the soup.
- Crumble the cheese and add it to the soup
- Stir in milk or cream, cilantro and salt
- Remove from the heat and serve with slices of avocado, cheese and aji or hot sauce.
My Comfort Food
October 2, 2009 | Filed Under Plantains, Plantains, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways | 8 Comments
My regular readers know that my favorite comfort food is plantain. My friend Tina made this the other day — sliced ripe plantains, seasoned with a little salt, and fried in a little oil.
*sigh of bliss* I. Am. Happy.
Thanks, Tina!
Paz
Plantain, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways #6: Sweet Baked Plantain with Cheese
January 4, 2009 | Filed Under Baking, Plantains, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways | 24 Comments
I’ve been eating a lot of much-needed comfort food lately and got very excited when I came across a recipe for an old childhood favorite on Laylita’s blog. A plantain recipe. Yes, plantain. You can find some of my plantain stories here.
One of the things I like about this so called cooking banana is that you can prepare it in several different ways. You can boil, fry or bake it. When I make my plantains, I normally fry them.
I got excited about Laylita’s recipe for baked plantain because it triggered memories of eating baked plantain and roasted peanuts as a young girl in Africa. I don’t think I’ve eaten baked plantains here in the States before. What a treat!
Laylita’s recipe was unique to me because the sweet baked plantain is served with cheese. Cheese! In this case, Mozzarella. Oh my! The combination tasted really good. I would have never imagined eating plantain with cheese. She also recommends using feta cheese or a good queso, which I’ll try at another time.
According to Laylita, this dish makes a great breakfast or brunch. I’ve made it several times now, mainly for dinner. So, I can say that it makes a great dinner, too. It’s also great as a an appetizer or side dish when cut the plantain is cut in half or into smaller pieces.
I loved Laylita’s way of serving the baked plantain and cheese with Aji Criollo, a spicy Ecuadorian hot sauce. Oh. My. Gosh! What a perfect combination of the taste of the sweet plantain, melted cheese and hot pepper! Whoo hoo! If you don’t like hot-tasting food, then leave it out but if you’re like me and love peppers, then go for it! I’ll post the hot sauce recipe next week.
I left the plantain in the oven a little longer than I should have and it came out a little darker than normal, but no matter. The plantain still tasted good.
The best part of this recipe is that it is one of the healthiest ways of preparing plantain — baked is much better than fried (although I love my fried plantain.). The cooking process was very easy to follow and after a long day, I was happy that I didn’t have to go through any lengthy food preparations in order to eat. Thanks Laylita for this plantain recipe. It made my day.
Paz
Sweet Baked Plantain with Cheese
Ingredients:
6 ripe plantains, whole
1-2 Tbs melted butter or oil, use as little as you want
6 thick slices of mozzarella
Optional side – Aji criollo (Ecuadorian hot sauce)
Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 400 F
Peel the plantains, place them on a baking sheet and rub them with butter or oil.
Bake the plantains for 30 minutes, then turn each one and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes or until golden on both sides.
Remove the plantains from the oven, made a horizontal slit on the middle of each plantain, and stuff them with cheese slices
In a few minutes the cheese will have melted, serve immediately, with or without hot sauce.
Plantain, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways #5 – Mangú (Mashed Green Plantains)
March 14, 2007 | Filed Under Plantains, Plantains, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways | 1 Comment
I love that there are so many ways to prepare plantains, my favorite food. Mangú, mashed green plantains, is a typical breakfast meal in the Dominican Republic. It’s become one of my favorite breakfast dishes. To see what a green (unripe) plantain looks like, go here.
I first made mangú, a while ago, when my Dominican friend, Rocío, gave me the recipe. Thank you, Rocío! I was so excited and since then, I’ve prepared it several times. You can serve mangú with onions (preferably red) and sausage, bologna, cheese or fried eggs. I like to eat my mangú with red onions and ox tails. The best thing about knowing how to prepare mangú is that I can eat it anytime I want, not just for breakfast. Yes!
Plantain, how do I love thee? I love thee so many ways!
Paz
Mangú served with red onions, eggs, and sausage
Mangú (Mashed plantains)
Dominican Cooking
Ingredients:
4 unripe (green) plantains
4 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of oil
2 large onions (*Paz note: I normally use red onions!)
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 cup of cold water
Salt
Preparation:
- Peel plantains and cut into 8 pieces.
- Boil the plantains, adding 2 teaspoons of salt to the water. When the plantains are very tender turn off the heat.
- While the plantains are boiling, heat a tablespoon of oil in a shallow pan. Sautee the onions, add the salt and the vinegar. Reserve.
- Take the plantains out of the water and mash them with a fork. Add the butter and the cold water and keep mashing until it is very smooth.
- Garnish with the onions and serve with scrambled eggs or deep-fried slices of salami.
Plantain, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways #4: Beef Ribs and Lentil Soup
January 18, 2007 | Filed Under Plantains, Plantains, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways | Leave a Comment
The other day, I found an interesting-looking recipe – Beef Ribs and Lentil Soup – in Tiempo New York, a local newspaper. What actually caught my eye was the fact that one of the ingredients included plantains – green plantains to be exact. Well, regular readers know how I feel about plantains. I love them. I immediately tore out the recipe and planned to make it for dinner that evening.
I managed to buy all the ingredients; except for the one I craved the most – the plantains. By now, I’ve learned that in all adventures, especially cooking ones, not everything goes as planned and one has to make due with what one has. Too tired to go to the store that sold the plantains, I had no choice but to cook without them.
Still, my Beef Ribs and Lentil Soup turned out well. The beef ribs added a succulent taste to the soup. The potatoes, lentils, celery, carrots were light yet filling. Instead of two small potatoes as the recipe dictates, a friend suggested using the baby potatoes, which is what I used. I liked that much better. The same idea applied to the carrot called for in the recipe. Instead of one whole carrot, I used a handful of baby carrots. I liked their perfect bite-size and the fact that I didn’t have to bother peeling or chopping anything.
So two things were missing from the soup: Plantain and cilantro, an herb I also love. I had the cilantro but by the time the food was cooked I was very hungry and forgot to add it to the soup. Luckily, I was able to spare a few minutes to take a photo before eating. 
Plantain, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… I plan on making this Beef Rib and Lentil soup again very soon. Next time I’ll make sure it contains the plantain and cilantro. I believe those missing ingredients will enhance the soup flavor even more.
In the meantime, after the ingredients had the chance to meld together even longer, I found that my leftover soup tasted even better the next day. Mmm… Mmm good! Very good!
Paz
Ed. Note: I’ve made this recipe again, several times. Those times, I included the plantain (and cilantro), which you can see in newer photos below.
Dish made again in February, this time with plantains and garnished with cilantro (yum!)
Beef Ribs and Lentil Soup
Adapted from Tiempo New York by Viviana Palacios
Dining – page 12 (January 11–24, 2007)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
½ pound of beef ribs
1 chopped onion
1 chopped carrot*
1 chopped celery strip
2 diced potatoes (small)*
½ diced green plantain
½ cup of lentil
5 cups of water
Salt, pepper and ground cumin
2 tablespoon of chopped cilantro
Preparation
Before chopping your ingredients, set the lentils aide in a bowl of water for at least 20 minutes or more. Preheat a soup pan; add the butter, onions, celery, garlic and beef ribs, salt, pepper and pinch of ground cumin. You brown the ribs for about 5 minute then add the drained lentil, potatoes, plantain, carrots and water. Check for salt and pepper taste and let boil for about 30 minutes, or to the desired thickness. Lastly you sprinkle some fresh cilantro on top and you are ready to serve. I like to add a squeeze of lime for enhanced flavor – try it!
*Paz Note: I used a handful of baby potatoes and baby carrots, instead.
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Beef Ribs and Lentils prepared again with plantains (and garnished with cilantro)
