Last night Irving headed out for a weeklong business trip, and I knew he would be eating in restaurants for the whole week, so I wanted to give him one last yummy home cooked meal before he hit the road! This recipe is the one that made me realize that I liked seitan (carne veggie in our house)—honestly, I had never really tried it before this summer, and between this recipe and one from Chloe’s Kitchen, I was sold! I make my own seitan, but you can find it pre-packaged at most big grocery stores now. It is MUCH more cost effective to make your own though, and I find that one big batch can feed my family for 4 separate meals.
I found this recipe on One Happy Table—the first blog I started following when I decided to start my own! Lauren has great recipes, and they are all family friendly and kid tested! Stop by and check it out. When I read her inspiration for this recipe I did a double take—it was if she was telling my story. You see, this was inspired by her trip to Puerto Rico. Irving, who was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in both the DR and Puerto Rico. His parents live in Puerto Rico now, and we’ve been lucky to visit them 3 different times in the past 6 or so years. She named this after the coqui frogs who sing “coqui, coqui, coqui” all night long as a way of attracting a mate. I love listening to them while Irving and I sit in the center of his parent’s town while snacking on late night treats from the bakery he worked at while he was in college. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Do you have any foods that bring back memories of past travels?
San Juan, Puerto Rico, July, 2010
Coqui Carne Veggie y Platano, adapted from One Happy Table
2 large, very ripe plantains, peeled and sliced (The peel should be yellow and covered in brown spots, if not mostly brown. If you can’t find any, you can use bananas which are a little bit sweeter.)
1 red onion, sliced
½ c green olives, sliced
10 oz seitan, sliced into small pieces
½ c flour
1 T aminos/soy sauce + water to equal ½ c
olive oil for cooking
3 tbsp aminos/soy sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
cilantro to garnish
Mix flour and soy sauce/water combination together in a shallow bowl. Dredge seitan in the batter and then cook the seitan over medium-high heat with a little olive oil until browned. You will probably need to do this in 2 batches, its worth it. Remove from pan and place on plate lined with paper towel.
Place sliced plantains in pan with a little more olive oil and cook until browned on both sides, and soft (alternatively, you could multi task and cook the plantains in a separate pan while cooking the seitan). Remove and place on plate with seitan. Place red onions in pan and begin to brown and soften, adding more oil if needed. Meanwhile, mix remaining aminos and maple syrup. Once onions are fairly soft, add olives and sauce. Let simmer for a minute and then carefully add in the seitan and plantains, tossing gently to coat.
Serve over a bed of white rice, and garnish with cilantro.
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