If you are looking to diversify your side dishes beyond the potatoes and rice, plantains offer a little variety.  Plantains are pretty much bananas, but they are bigger and not as sweet.  Like bananas, when they are green, they are less sweet than when they ripen to a yellow and black.  They are pretty popular in tropical environments such as Puerto Rico. While many different recipes exist for cooking with plantains, here’s a couple popular uses….

Tostones (pronounced like toe stone ays) is a delicious side dish or appetizer using plantains at their green phase.  You peel it, slice it like you would a banana for a bowl of Cheerios, and then deep fry the slices.  When they start to float (maybe a minute), take them out, and then smash each piece flat.  Re-fry until it starts to brown. Season with some salt. A great dipping sauce is the Puerto Rican condiment Mayoketchup.  Simply mix two parts mayonnaise to one part ketchup and a little garlic.

You can take Tostones one step further and create Mofongo.  Popular in Puerto Rico, Mofongo is pretty much tostones, garlic butter, and a meat like pork or shrimp mashed together resulting in a look similar to lumpy mashed potatoes. You can use any meat or vegetable or any combination that sounds appealing. Just line a mortar with a seasoned buttery spread (like garlic and butter), add 3 parts warm tostones to one part meat/vegetables (cooked if meat, and cooked or uncooked if vegetables is up to you, and cut up in small bite sized pieces), and then mash it together with a pestle. It does cool quickly, and is best if not re-heated.

If your plantains turned a yellow black color on you, you can make a Mexican dessert. Slice them long ways and then in half and fry until browned on all sides.  Sprinkle some Cinnamon and sugar on them, and maybe even top with some Sweetened Condensed Milk and Whipped Topping. You can also add other fruits like strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.