Sweet-heat Plantain Tacos

After eating at a local, upscale taco restaurant where our son had ordered a variety of vegetarian tacos, he asked if we could create our own at home. His favorite combination was a plantain used as the "meat" in his taco. After a few attempts we got it!  Adding a drop of dōTERRA's Cinnamon oil really enhances the flavor!

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If you've never used plantains, you are missing out!  I had always seen them at the store but had never taken the time to know how to use them until our taco experiment.  A plantain looks like a large banana.  While it is in the banana family it is starchier and contains less sugar than a banana.  Plantains are cooked before eaten, in most cases.  Cooked plantains are a great source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and high in fiber!

Knowing how to buy them is important.  Green are hard and have more of the consistency of a potato.  As they ripen they turn yellow and then black.  The deeper the yellow of the skin (with black spots) the easier to work with for grilling, sautéing, frying or boiling.  Black plantains are still good, so don't let the "overly ripe" looking skin fool you. Black plantains are the sweetest and work great for baking and using in desserts.   When you cook a plantain, you can go either sweet or savory in your recipe.  This particular recipe is more on the sweet, caramelized side - yet the spices pack a powerful kick!  

To reach the fruit, cut off both ends and score the skin (without going too deep) lengthwise 2 - 3 times and peel the skin off making sure to remove all skin from the fruit.  You may need to use the knife to scrape like peeling a carrot.  Once the skin is removed, you are ready to slice, chop or dice - depending on how you will use it.

Sweet-heat Plantain Tacos

​Create the whole meal!

Our favorite Black Bean recipe complements these tacos perfectly and is healthier than canned beans.  Using an Instant Pot the dried beans will be ready to eat by the time you have the rest of the meal prepared, if you start the beans first.  Here's one of our favorite recipes: Black Beans, From Dried to Done Instantly  - well, in less than 1 hour, so that's almost instant!

Top with our favorite guacamole and healthier "sour cream" recipes to round out the meal.

Plain Greek Yogurt (I love to make my own)
Guacamole
Sour Cream Substitute

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Author

Holly Mays has been on a journey to share natural ways of supporting health and wellness since 2010 when she graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition as a Certified Health Coach.  She is a recognized as a Holistic Health Practitioner by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.  She and her husband, David Mays, became dōTERRA Wellness Advocates in February 2012 and found their passion in empowering people through education to use dōTERRA essential oils, supplements and non-toxic products as a foundation for health and wellness and to create a life of purpose.

Learn More about David & Holly.