MEXICO!!

Okay, so I guess we lied.

Mexico will be our first entry!

Guacamole!

Don't have an exact recipe for this one... Just threw together some avocados, cilantro, jalapenos, tomatoes and lime juice!! Super delicious, but very spicy (the jalapeno we got was ridiculous!)

Bean stuffed banana balls!

Ingredients

6 plátanos machos (ripe plantain)
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons brown cugar
1 cup black beans (cooked and blended) 

Instructions

1 Wash the bananas and cut each into 3 pieces. Place th pieces in a pot and let them boil. (Don't peel the skin)
2 Once the bananas are cooked, drain and peel them. Mash them adding half of the grated cheese and half of the cinnamon. It must feel like a soft dough.
3 Fry the beans and let them dry. Add the rest of the cinnamon, cheese and sugar.
4 Make small tortillas with the banana dough (using your hands) and stuff them with a spoon of the fried beans. Mold the dough into egg shaped balls, letting the beans as a stuffing and fry them in hot oil.

These were pretty easy to make. However, you want to make sure you cook the plantains really well (boil for AT LEAST 15 minutes!) we added a little bit of flour before tossing them in the oil.

They turned out very good. The plantains give it a unique taste both sweet and savory. These make a very good appetizer. They would be wonderful with a chipotle sauce to dip in, but other than that, super good!

Enchiladas verdes! 

For Enchiladas:

-6 whole grain tortillas

-About 3 cups lightly steamed veggies of your choice; I used broccoli and yellow squash (chopped small) You might also like to try Spinach and Mushrooms. 

-1 can Black Beans heated with a dash of curry powder, cumin, garlic powder (optional for flavor)

Preheat oven to 350º While oven is preheating warm up the tortillas for a few minutes until they are soft. In baking dish spread a bit of the salsa verde on the bottom so that tortillas will not stick afterwards.

                           We bought a container of salsa verdes for this recipe (feel free to make your own though if you try this out). For the vegetables we used spinach, corn and mushrooms and we added refried beans as well as the black beans. We also sprinkled shredded asiago cheese on the top. Keep in mind, the time in the oven is so short just to warm them up and give them a little crisp, not to cook them.

Turned out very good! Wonderful combination of flavors and textures, I would certainly recommend this recipe to anyone!