Black Bean–Stuffed Plantains with Spicy Cilantro Sauce
For a meatless twist on stuffed plantains, we’ve swapped in black beans for the traditional ground beef filling. A finishing drizzle of bright, spicy sauce amps up the color and flavor.
Ingredients
Ingredients
Plantains
- 6 ripe but firm plantains look for yellow skin with spots of brown
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 scallions white and light green parts only, chopped
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño seeded and very finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice from ½ lime
- Sea salt to taste
Spicy Cilantro Sauce
- 1 small bunch cilantro rinsed and stemmed
- ½ cup loosely packed parsley leaves rinsed
- 1 small clove garlic chopped ¼ cup lime juice (from about 3 limes)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 jalapeños seeded and minced Sea salt, to taste
To Assemble
- 1 cup grated Manchego
- ½ cup grated fresh mozzarella
Instructions
Instructions
Plantains
- Heat oven to 350°F. Trim ends from plantains. Using a paring knife, cut a slit down the length of the plantain, just deep enough to cut the skin without slicing the flesh. Peel back the skin, remove the flesh, and rub it all over with oil. Tuck the plantain back inside its skin and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining plantains. Bake until tender, about 40 to 45 minutes.
- Combine black beans, scallions, tomato, jalapeño, and lime juice in a small bowl, and add salt to taste.
Spicy Cilantro Sauce
- Add cilantro, parsley, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Stir in jalapeños and season with salt.
To Assemble
- When plantains are cool enough to handle, discard skins. Cut the flesh lengthwise about ⅔ of the way through the plantain to make a boat. Divide bean filling evenly among the plantains and top with cheeses. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Once plantains have warmed through, broil for 1 to 2 minutes to brown the cheese, if desired. Drizzle spicy cilantro sauce over the top and serve.
Molly Shuster
Molly is a freelance food stylist, writer and recipe developer. She is one of the co-recipe editors of Gather Journal and has had her work published in various publications including Boston Magazine, Yankee Magazine, The New York Times, Food and Wine, Family Fun, The Boston Globe and Edible Vineyard, among others. Molly currently divides her time between New York and Boston.
