Crispy Plantain Tacos

Ingredients
2 garlic cloves
6 oz. tomatillos
1 poblano pepper
1 lime
¼ oz. parsley
1 apricot or peach
1 red Fresno chile
1 plantain
1 red onion
6 oz. curly kale
6 whole wheat tortillas
2 tbsp. vegan sour cream
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300°F for the tortillas. Peel the garlic. Remove husks from the tomatillos, and rinse and halve the fruit. Destem, deseed, and chop the poblano pepper. Halve and juice the lime. Roughly chop parsley leaves and stems. Remove pit from the apricot or peach and dice. Trim, deseed, and thinly slice the red Fresno chile. Peel plantain and cut into ½ inch thick slices. Peel, halve, and thinly slice red onion. Destem curly kale and roughly chop the leaves.

Add the peeled garlic, halved tomatillos, chopped poblano pepper, just half the lime juice, chopped parsley, and ½ tsp. salt to a blender. Blend the fiery green sauce until smooth. Taste, and add salt as necessary.

Add the remaining lime juice, diced apricot or peach, thinly sliced red Fresno chile, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a medium bowl. Stir the apricot salsa. Taste, and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced plantain and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the crispy plantain to a large plate.

Wrap the whole wheat tortillas in foil and place in the oven until warmed through, 4 to 5 minutes. Return skillet to high heat with 1 tsp. vegetable oil. Add sliced red onion and a pinch of salt and cook until lightly charred, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium-high and add chopped curly kale and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until kale is bright green, 3 to 5 minutes.

Divide the warm whole wheat tortillas between plates. Add charred red onion and kale, crispy plantain, and apricot salsa. Top the crispy plantain tacos with fiery green sauce and a dollop of sour cream.

Serves 2

Fried Plantains

Based on Alton Brown's recipe. Buy plantains that are mostly green with some black spots. The more black, the softer and sweeter the plantain. This recipe is not for sweet plantains, but there are others that are meant to highlight the sweetness.

Cut the ends off each plantain, score the skin lengthwise and peel off the skin. Cut into one-inch segments. Heat about 1/3-inch of oil to medium-low in a pan (enough to cover the plantains half way when the pan is full.) Fry about 90 seconds on each end -- the entire outside should turn a deep yellow, but not brown -- then remove to paper towel.

Turn oil up to medium-high. With a flat spatula or bottom of solid glass, smoosh each piece into a disc (do this on a cutting board, so that the discs don't pick up pieces of paper towel.) Fry again, flipping half way through, for a total of 2-4 minutes. Should brown a bit and be very crispy on the outside. Remove to paper towel and salt immediately.

Each plantain makes about 8 chips.