That’s a pretty long recipe name, I know.
It all happened because our plantains were yellow…
So here’s what happened:
Johnny from Eating For Idiots and I decided to have a cooking day together. We have an ongoing texting relationship, in which we talk about food, life, love, tequila, and of course the occasional smack. I harass him on an almost constant basis about being my partner in crime in writing a cookbook, and I think I might have him almost broken down.
But for now, we’ll cook together when we can and see what we can come up with. On Monday, we came up with something pretty great.
It was all a total accident; the plantains I had leftover from the weekend’s paleo popups were yellow, which is exactly in between ripe and not ripe. We attempted to make tostones, but the coconut oil they were frying in foamed up to the top (and over) the pot in protest. This is a good example of how kitchen adventures don’t always go as planned, but it’s almost never the end of the world. Plan B: Throw that S@#% in the food processor and puree. Make latkes. Or since this dish really has nothing to do with Hanukkah, or anything Jewish for that matter, make tostadas.
This recipe has a few parts and steps, but it’s all incredibly simple and there’s hardly any chopping, so don’t fret.
The components are:
Plantain tostadas
Cilantro citrus marinated chicken
Ranchero Sauce
Guacamole
The end result is this.
You can use any kind of meat for this dish. Johnny’s barbacoa beef comes to mind, as does pulled pork. This chicken recipe is a great option if you want a quick meal.
Preheat oven to 425.
For the chicken:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 3 limes
4 garlic cloves
handful cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
Put everything but the chicken in a blender, puree, and pour the sauce over the chicken. It’s fine to let the chicken reach room temperature before baking. No need to wash the blender, you’re about to use it again. You’ll bake the chicken when you bake the tostadas, so let the marinade do it’s magic while you prepare the rest of the dish. (I don’t recommend an overnight marinate with this amount of citrus, you’ll wind up with chicken ceviche- not appealing. )
For the Ranchero Sauce:
1 can (14 ounce-ish) fire roasted tomatoes
1 whole roasted pepper
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (or cayenne if you don’t have chipotle)
coconut oil for sautéing
Saute the onion and garlic in coconut oil over medium heat until golden and soft, about 10 minutes. Add to the blender with the rest of the ingredients. Puree. Transfer to a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. You can just let it simmer while the rest of the components are cooking, for about 30 minutes or so.
Action shots are tough when it’s just me in the kitchen, but a breeze when Johnny’s around. There will be more in the cookbook 
Smoky Ranchero Sauce.
For the latkes tostadas:
2 yellow plantains
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted, plus more for baking tostadas
1 teaspoon salt
Chop the plantains into 2 inch pieces and toss them in the food processor with the melted coconut oil and salt. Puree. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease with additional coconut oil. Divide the plantain mixture into 6 blobs on the baking sheet and flatten them out into pancakes as best you can. (Oiled hands help). Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or so, flipping half way.
They were a bit sticky, but oiled hands helped flatten them out.
Way better than a corn tostada, if you ask me. A bit crispy on the edges, a bit chewy in the center. Yummy.
You can put the chicken in to bake at the same time, it should take about as long.
Put it all together!
Chop the chicken into strips. Top each tostada with a couple tablespoons of the Ranchero sauce, some chicken, and guacamole. There’s no exact equation here. You will definitely have extra ranchero sauce leftover, which would be great with eggs, or on some steak, or thrown into a pot of stew to add a smoky flavor. It’s not a bad condiment to have around, is what I’m trying to say here. It should keep in the fridge for a week.
Enjoy!
I’m going to have to make these again very soon…
yumm!! These remind me of a little mexican restaurant I used to eat at in CO. They served chalupas with a thick masa tortilla at the bottom, then layered sliced avocados, sauce, chicken or beef, lettuce, etc. Have been thinking about trying to recreate them and the plantain dough is a great paleo alternative!! I just discovered your blog and feel I have found a chef after my own heart; mostly paleo, loves to bake, a hankering for tequila…
Do you do yoga too? Red dirt cave girl
They definitely remind me of a handmade thick corn tortilla, that’s why I love them! And come to think of it, these would go amazing with some tequila
I don’t do yoga, even though I know I should. There’s finally a studio opening up soon that’s walking distance from my house, so I hope that eliminates any excuse I have not to go!
wooow this looks so good.. i’m a new follower this is all great work here!
Thanks! And Welcome!
These are very tempting– but I mon’t think I’ll ever find a plaintain here in Vermont (at least not where I live). They are more starchy than bananas, right? I’m thinking maybe sweet potato slices, baked in the oven for the base. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yep, plantains are more starchy than bananas, and handle being cooked a lot differently. A sweet potato base sounds great. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
I made these this weekend with ripe plantains. I pulverized them with coconut oil in the vitamix and it became a pretty soupy liquid, like pancake batter. So I poured discs of batter onto greased parchment paper and…they came out spectacularly! Everyone in the family ate every bit of these up and asked for me to make this again, which I definitely will. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
I have made these twice – the first time the plantains were quite ripe, and the tostadas turned out soft, like tortillas! in fact my husband and i though our plantain “tacos” were amazing! Tonight i made them again with green plantains and they turned out thick and crispy on the outside and soft inside, just like mexican sopes! My husband is Mexican and even he agreed they were perfect! thank you!!
You’re so welcome, I’m glad you and your husband enjoyed them! I’ve got some plantains that seemed too ripe for this recipe, but maybe I’ll try it based on your tortilla-like results!
So, I made these toastadas, tonight, to go with some pulled pork I did in my crock pot. I had a bit of dough left over, so I pressed some into greased cupcake pans, and molded it into cup shapes. I only had to bake them for about 12 minutes. The cups turned out amazing! They didn’t get toasted on the inside, but the crispiness on the bottom more than made up for that. We loaded them full of meat and avocado. My kids loved them, and they were way easier to eat than the flat version
Kind of a cool variation!
awesome! I love that variation / idea. I’ll have to try it. Aren’t plantains magical?!
I just made this recipe and it was delicious! I am on the sugar detox, so I had to make some minor adjustments; the most notable change was in place of the plantain, I made a zucchini latke-like thing. I love your site! Thank you for amazing cooking inspiration!