Layered Verrines with Coconut Quinoa, Avocado & Sauteed Plantains

It's a gorgeous day here in Ontario, so today's post will be a short one so that I can get outside and make the most of it before the rain returns tomorrow!

Plantains are one of my favourite things to eat, especially when combined with avocado and other tropical flavours like coconut. My plantain guacamole is one of my favourite recipes on the blog, and it also helped to inspire this dish.

The idea for layered quinoa avocado verrines first came from a recipe that I've made before from Vegetarian Times. While their recipe was more Mexican-flavoured and was topped with sprouts, I went for a tropical version topped with sauteed plantains.

The three components to this recipe all have tropical notes: first is a coconut quinoa made by cooking the quinoa in coconut milk and stirring in a bit of lime zest and toasted coconut flakes; next is a layer of avocado pureed with lime juice and cilantro; and the final component is a layer of sweet ripe plantain slices cooked in coconut oil with a dash of spices.

I could happily eat any of the layers on their own, but they combine to make a creamy and flavourful dish that can either be served in small portions as an appetizer or in larger portions as a main dish. Layering each of the components into a little glass or cup makes for a fun presentation that you can even prepare ahead of time if you're serving them to a group.

Hopefully these tropical flavours will help you get through the last of the cold weather for those of you who are still seeing snow, and let's hope the warmer weather is here to stay!

Layered Verrines with Coconut Quinoa, Avocado and Sauteed Plantains
Inspired by Vegetarian Times

Quinoa:

2/3 cup canned coconut milk or coconut milk beverage

1/3 cup dry quinoa

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Pinch of salt

½ tsp lime zest

2 tbsp coconut flakes

1 ripe avocado

1.5 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 ripe yellow plantain, peeled and sliced
Dash of cumin

Dash of chili powder

Salt to taste

Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Once it starts to boil, stir in the quinoa, ginger, and a pinch of salt. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered for 5 minutes. Remove lid, fluff quinoa with a fork and stir in the lime zest and coconut flakes. Keep aside.

Meanwhile, make the avocado sauce: Place the avocado, lime juice, and cilantro in a food processor. Season generously with salt and pepper. Puree until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the coconut oil. Once the coconut oil is melted, add the sliced plantains and sprinkle them with cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste. Let cook for 5-6 minutes total, flipping the slices halfway through. Remove from the pan and let drain on a plate lined with paper towel.

To assemble, place a portion of the quinoa in the bottom of each glass (use about 2/3 of the quinoa for this layer). Top with a thick layer of the avocado puree. Next, add a few plaintain slices. Repeat the layers once more, ending with the rest of the plantains on top. Garnish with extra cilantro and coconut flakes if desired.

Makes 3 servings.

Recipe Round Up: Healthy Snacks

The month of January is a popular time for people to start new diet resolutions, or at least try to eat healthier.  Now that the month is over, I thought this was a good time to share another round-up of healthy recipes that I've tried from other blogs!

This time, the theme is healthy snacks - including portable snacks to power you through the day's activities, and homemade versions of snacks that you might usually buy at the grocery store.

Peanut Butter, Coconut & Dried Fruit Granola Bars
First up are these granola bars from Peanut Butter Runner. I never seem to make the same granola bars twice because I like to experiment with new combinations, and this recipe was the latest version that I've tried. I used dried apricots and dates for the fruit, which provided most of the sweetness and they were nice and hearty from the oats. These bars have been fueling me through my new schedule of exercise classes - they make a great pre- or post-workout snack!

Chili Garlic Crackers
I usually buy crackers from the store, but I saw this recipe on Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen and wanted to try making my own. These aren't necessarily the healthiest crackers, as they still have a bit of butter and sugar, but I like to think that since they're homemade and have less of the processed ingredients, they're still a pretty healthy snack choice!
They had a lot of flavour from the addition of garlic and green chilies and were super spicy for my taste, which I liked! They were also perfect on a charcuterie board to eat with different types of cheeses and tapenades.

Almond Joy Cookie Bites
I just bookmarked this recipe from Oh, Ladycakes, as seen on Vegan Yack Attack last week, and had a chance to make them this morning because I had almost all of the ingredients on hand. I did have to make a couple of substitutions which I think compromised the full flavour potential of these cookies (like leaving out the dark chocolate and using a different type of nut butter, plus my coconut had lost its freshness).  I still liked the combination of almonds, coconut and cacao nibs, so I'm excited to try the raw version of this recipe from Ashlae next!

Lentil Trail Mix
I was very curious about this trail mix when I first saw it on Healthful Pursuit and I finally had the chance to make it earlier this month to bring along as a snack on a family day trip.  I made a few changes based on what I had on hand, like using chopped dried mango and papaya for the fruit, along with the cranberries. I admit it was a bit odd at first and not everyone who tried it was a fan, but I personally loved the crunchiness of the red lentils and the sweetness of the dried tropical fruit!

Oat Snackles
These cookie bites from Let them Eat Vegan, as seen on Plant-Powered Kitchen, were another snack that I made for our family day trip that we spent outdoors at a provincial park.  They were nice and chewy and I liked the addition of the raisins and chocolate chips. Next time I would use less lemon zest, since the combination of zest with dried fruit reminded me too much of fruitcake, but other than that, they made a great healthy and portable snack!

Baked Plantain Chips

I've been wanting to try making my own plantain chips, since it sounds so easy, so I bought a plantain the other weekend and followed this recipe from the Kitchn.  I made half of the chips with a mandolin so that they came out super thin (at the bottom in the pic below), and the other half I cut with a knife a bit thicker (the top half of the plate). 

The thinner pieces turned out more like actual crispy chips and made a nice light snack, while the thicker ones were good for dipping in salsa. I liked them both ways, and this is definitely a snack that I want to make more often - maybe for Super Bowl this weekend!

Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll have some new recipes to share with you next week!

Plantain Guacamole in Black Bean Cups

With Super Bowl Sunday coming up next weekend, its the perfect time to share a fun party appetizer recipe to add to your game day menu!

To be honest, I'm not really a football fan, but I do look forward to the Super Bowl every year. It's fun to choose my favourite team (usually based on uniform colours) and to watch the entertainment and big-budget commercials (although sadly we never get to see the best commercials up here in Canada).

And of course, I look forward to Super Bowl food! I love sitting around the coffee table in front of the TV eating a meal made up entirely of finger foods, chips and dip.

Guacamole is one of the things that has always made an appearance in our family's Super Bowl meal, but this year I wanted to try something a bit different with my guacamole. I had seen these guacamole-stuffed black bean cups on the blog Cake, Batter & Bowl a long time ago but I'd never gotten around to making them, so I decided that now was the perfect opportunity to try them!

I've also had plantains on my mind lately, so I knew I wanted to try incorporate them somehow.  First, I decided to make some sauteed plantains to top each cup with....and then I thought why not mix them into the guacamole too? I've tried mango guacamole in the past, so I figured another tropical fruit would also taste just as good...and did it ever!

I don't like making strong statements like "this was the best guacamole ever", but it turned out even better than I expected! It was so creamy and I loved the way the sweetness of the plantains paired with the lime and avocado - just make sure you get a ripe enough plantain. otherwise it won't mash easily and the flavour won't be as pronounced.. Then the other ingredients like the cilantro, garlic and jalapeno helped to balance out the other flavours and added just a bit of heat to the guacamole.

What I loved most about this whole appetizer was that each of the components was so good on its own, but eating them all together made each part taste even better! The black bean cups were the perfect little vessel to hold the guacamole, and this way everyone can just pick up a portable cup instead of the usual chip-and-dip method.

The recipe might look a bit long, but each of the components is easy and quick to make.  You can even make the black bean cups earlier in the day and then assemble everything right before you want to eat. I think these will definitely earn a permanent spot on my Super Bowl menu from now on!

Plantain Guacamole
2 very ripe avocados

1 very ripe plantain (yellow with black spots)

1 small-medium jalapeno,finely minced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Ground pepper to taste

Peel and dice the avocados and place in a bowl. Peel or slice the the skin off the plantain, then cut into small pieces and add to the bowl with the avocados. Mash the avocados and plantain together until creamy (a few chunks are okay). 

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Sauteed Plantains

1 ripe plantain (yellow with a bit of green is okay)

Dash of chili powder and cumin

Water

1 tbsp olive oil

Peel the plantain and cut into round slices (you will need at least 12 slices). Place slices in a bowl and sprinkle with chili powder and cumin. Add a couple drops of water to help the spices stick, tossing to coat.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the plantains and cook for 5-6 minutes, flipping once, until browned. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Black Bean Cups
Adapted from Cake, Batter & Bowl

1 can (1.5 cups) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350ºF and spray a 24 cup mini-muffin pan (or two 12-cup pans) with cooking spray.

Place the black beans, flour, cumin, paprika and salt in a large food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Then keep the processor running while you slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Process until the mixture comes together into a smooth, sticky dough. 

Divide the dough evenly into the muffin cups and press with your fingers to form cups that spread up the sides of each muffin cup. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cups are set. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

To assemble:

Fill each black bean cup with a large spoonful of the guacamole. Cut the larger sauteed plantain slices in half and top each guacamole cup with one of the half-slices (you can keep the smaller slices whole).

Note: Leftovers won't save very well the next day, but I doubt you'll have any leftovers anyway! If you end up with extra plantains or guacamole after assembling the cups, you can just eat them on their own without the black bean cups. 

This was submitted to Ricki's Wellness Weekend at Diet, Dessert & Dogs

Sweet Potato & Plantain Soup

Once the weather starts getting colder, I love to make nice creamy soups that I can scoop up with a piece of hearty bread. This sweet potato and plantain soup is a great transition from the last warm days of the year into the colder months, since it is warm and comforting but still has some tropical flavours.

I first saw the recipe on Cake, Batter and Bowl and I've made it a few times since then, with minor changes to the ingredients to suit my own taste (and to make it vegetarian).

I love the combination of sweet potatoes with ripe plantain and the hint of lime.  While this soup is a bit on the sweeter side, I still found that multiple layers of flavours came through as I ate it - from sweet to citrusy and ending with a bit of spice.  And the crunch of plantain chips on top adds the perfect touch to the creamy soup!

Sweet Potato & Plantain Soup
Adapted from Cake, Batter, and Bowl

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
3 small sweet potatoes (about 1 lb unpeeled)
1 yellow plantain
1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of cayenne and allspice
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 a lime (start with less than this amount and add more if you like a strong lime taste)
plantain chips for garnish

Peel and dice the sweet potatoes and the plantain (you might need a knife to remove the peel from the plantain).

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until soft and browned, 5-6 minutes.  Add the minced ginger and garlic and saute for another minute.

Add the sweet potatoes and plantains to the pot, then stir in the jalapeno, cumin, cayenne and allspice.

Add the vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree in a blender until completely smooth. (Note: you may need to add more water if you prefer a thinner soup)

Return soup to the pot and stir in the salt and lime juice.

Serve hot. Garnish each serving with whole or chopped plantain chips and season with ground pepper (Serve immediately, as the plantain chips will start to get soggy quickly).

Makes 2-3 servings.