Dear Caitlin,

I complain a lot about how difficult it can be to find ingredients here on the border.  I shouldn’t.  Because there are some ingredients here that are INCREDIBLY difficult to find elsewhere.  I’m trying to learn how to cook with some of the plentiful produce that surrounds us.  Like nopales, for example.  There’s not a whole lot of places that you can find them so plentiful.  And yet I’ve never used them.

Plantains, however, are pretty much everywhere now, I think.  As it should be, because they’re pretty amazing little beasts.  Just make sure that they’re fully ripe – totally yellow with some brown spots.  Otherwise they’re starchy and yucky.

Last week, I threw together this dish.  It took max thirty minutes to come together, and it was ridiculously tasty.  There were also leftovers, and we all know how you feel about leftovers.

There’s very little to this recipe.  An onion, a plantain, a mango, a clove of garlic, and black beans are the base.

Add in a touch of salt and some oregano, and you’re on your way to dinner.

Any day that I manage to work out, go to work, cook dinner, and still get in bed at a reasonable hour is a good day.  It’s the little things like this recipe that make those days possible.

Recipe

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Onion
1 Clove Garlic
1 Plantain
1 Mango
2 Cans Black Beans
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Dice the onion.  Sautee in olive oil.  After two or three minutes, add the garlic.  While these cook, slice up the plantain and mango.  Once the onions are translucent, add the plantain.  Drain the black beans.  After the plantain has cooked two or three minutes, add the black beans, mango, salt, and oregano.  Cook another three or four minutes, until warmed through.  Serve with tortillas or brown rice.  It’s also delicious on its own.