La Viuda (the widow) The widow as in meal with no meat.  I first encountered this term on the menu of one of my all time favorite restaurants, Martino’s Cuban Restaurant in Somerville, NJ.  I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine the other day who recently turned to veganism.  My first question was “Is it hard to find recipes?”  She assured me that it wasn’t difficult and in fact veganism had inspired her to cook more.  Although I don’t want to give up animal protein completely, I was motivated to find ways to make the food I love with little or no meat.  Well, as it turns out it wasn’t too difficult.  Here’s my recipe for “la viuda” with the addition of fried plantains (not pictured above). Black Beans I’m not even going to pretend that I made this up, I just use the recipe in the back of the can of Goya black beans.  No shame. 4 tbsps olive oil 1 cup onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup green pepper chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 1lb. 13 oz. can of black beans, undrained 1 1/2 cups water 1 tbsp. oregano 2 packets Sazon Goya w/out annatto 2 tbsps. white wine or cider vinegar Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, pepper, garlic; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Serves 8. Plantains 2 very ripe (lots of black spots) plantains vegetable oil (enough to be about an inch high in a saucepan) Peel plantains and cut on a bias about 1/2 inch thick. Heat oil in a sauce pan and make sure it’s hot enough that the plantains will sizzle when dropped in the oil.  Drop plantains in oil until golden on both sides.  Don’t overcrowd the pan; make two batches if you have to.  Before putting in a second batch wait a minute or two to make sure the oil is hot enough for another round.  Place the fried plantains on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the oil.  Let cool slightly and serve. Serve beans and  plantains with white rice and avocado.

La Viuda (the widow)

The widow as in meal with no meat.  I first encountered this term on the menu of one of my all time favorite restaurants, Martino’s Cuban Restaurant in Somerville, NJ.  I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine the other day who recently turned to veganism.  My first question was “Is it hard to find recipes?”  She assured me that it wasn’t difficult and in fact veganism had inspired her to cook more.  Although I don’t want to give up animal protein completely, I was motivated to find ways to make the food I love with little or no meat.  Well, as it turns out it wasn’t too difficult.  Here’s my recipe for “la viuda” with the addition of fried plantains (not pictured above).

Black Beans

I’m not even going to pretend that I made this up, I just use the recipe in the back of the can of Goya black beans.  No shame.

4 tbsps olive oil

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup green pepper chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1lb. 13 oz. can of black beans, undrained

1 1/2 cups water

1 tbsp. oregano

2 packets Sazon Goya w/out annatto

2 tbsps. white wine or cider vinegar

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, pepper, garlic; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Serves 8.

Plantains

2 very ripe (lots of black spots) plantains

vegetable oil (enough to be about an inch high in a saucepan)

Peel plantains and cut on a bias about 1/2 inch thick. Heat oil in a sauce pan and make sure it’s hot enough that the plantains will sizzle when dropped in the oil.  Drop plantains in oil until golden on both sides.  Don’t overcrowd the pan; make two batches if you have to.  Before putting in a second batch wait a minute or two to make sure the oil is hot enough for another round.  Place the fried plantains on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the oil.  Let cool slightly and serve.

Serve beans and  plantains with white rice and avocado.

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  1. imnobettycrocker posted this
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12 months ago