Tropical Plantain Breakfast Bowl

 

Even though it might not seem like it here in Milwaukee, summer is coming and everyone will be having lots of fun creating new recipes. Waking up to bright sun rays streaming through your window, you can’t help but reminisce about long gone vacations and summer days. This bowl almost seem like a breakfast salad…… lets just call it a warm breakfast salad. Inspired by the many random rainbows on our trip to Honolulu a couple of years ago. Simple , quick, colorful  and boasting some tropical flavors.

Hit the runway, mine just happens to be my local fresh market. Whole red cabbage keeps well in the fridge and I almost always have it. Kale should be bought fresh and crunchy; wilting is no fun with this beauty. Pineapples could be tricky to buy, I’ve been lucky most times. Rule of thump if it smells funky, it probably tastes funky too. Plantains could be bought green and it should be ripe enough in 3-4 days or less. They are gaining more popularity but most markets still don’t have plantains. You can probably find it at your ethnic food markets ( African, Asian, Mexican…). Everything else was in my pantry. Pineapple balsamic is optional but it definitely adds another layer of flavor.

With these few ingredients, a tropical breakfast bowl was created.

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet ripe plantains diced (~2 1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic/ smoke paprika/cayenne
• 1 cup chopped kale
• 1 cup chopped red cabbage
• 1 cup dice pineapples
• 1-2 Tbsp Pineapple balsamic (Optional)
• 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Wash, peel and dice plantains into ~ 1/4 inch pieces. Transfer to a bowl, drizzle olive oil, add garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper and toss. Transfer in to an oven safe baking dish or cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove , add in pineapple , kale and cabbage, cover and bake for another 5 minutes until veggies are slightly wilted and pineapple juices start running.
4. Stir and serve warm. Garnish with some fresh  cilantro and feel free to drizzle some pineapple balsamic.