Plantain Garlic Soup Food

SOPA DE PLATANO (PLANTAIN SOUP)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add the garlic and cumin and cook for 1 minute, stirring almost constantly.
• Add the sliced plantains and give everything a good stir.
• Add the chicken broth and the bay leaf and stir well.
• Raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil.
• Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook the soup for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The plantains should break apart when pressed with a wood spoon, if they do not; continue cooking for 10 minutes and check again.
• Remove and discard the bay leaf.
• Taste the soup and add salt if needed. As a reference we did not add any extra salt to ours.
• Process the soup with an immersion blender or potato masher, if desired. Don't process all the way, leave the soup a little chunky.
• Garnish the soup with chopped cilantro (or parsley) and crushed plantain chips, if desired.

PLANTAIN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until the onions are soft and browned, 8 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock, plantains, cilantro, bay leaves and cumin, and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook at a bare simmer, uncovered, until the plantains are very tender, 45 minutes.
• Transfer half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. *When blending hot liquids, fill the blender less than halfway full, place the lid askew and pulse the liquid at first to release some heat, otherwise, your blender top could pop! Stir the pureed soup back into the pot with the remaining chunky soup and mix well. If the soup is too thick for your taste add more chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
• *When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

PLANTAIN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until soft but not brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the plantains, bay leaf, cumin, the salt and pepper. Return the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, until the plantains are very tender, about 40 minutes.
• Remove and discard the bay leaf. Place half of the soup in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Stir the puree into the remaining soup.
• Just before serving, reheat the soup. Add additional salt or cumin if desired. Divide among 4 bowls, garnish with the cilantro and serve immediately.

PLANTAIN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic.
• Cook, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes, or until onions are soft but not brown.
• Add 4 cups of chicken stock/broth and bring to boil over high heat.
• Add plantains, most of the cilantro (reserve a few tablespoons for garnish), cumin, and bay leaf.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Return to boil.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered for 40-50 minutes or until plantains very tender.
• Remove and discard bay leaf.
• Transfer half the soup to blender; puree until smooth.
• Return to the pan.
• If soup is too thick, add a little more stock/broth.
• Season with more salt/cumin if desired.

LENTIL SOUP WITH PLANTAINS

Steps:

• Cut 1 onion into chunks and the other into dice. Puree 6 of the garlic cloves and keep the remaining 5 whole. Place the cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, onion chunks and whole garlic cloves in the center of a medium square of cheesecloth. Tie the ends together to form a package. Place the fresh thyme in another square of cheesecloth and tie the ends together to enclose. In a large saucepan or stockpot, combine vegetable stock or water and the spice and herb packages, or dried thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for thirty minutes. Stir in lentils and continue cooking until they are cooked through but still firm, about 15 minutes. Strain the lentils, reserving the liquid and thyme bundle. In separate saucepan heat olive oil or butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add plantains, carrots and salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the plantains are soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in the pureed garlic and allspice and cook for 5 minutes longer, being careful not to scorch the garlic. Add the lentils, their reserved liquid and the thyme bundle. Bring to a simmer and cook another 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, and remove the thyme bundle. Stir in half of the chopped cilantro. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro.