Happy New Year, y’all! I know, I know. I’m a little late and it’s been a minute but your girl has been busy cooking and handling the everyday stress of just gestures wildly everything lately. Time to kick off my first published recipe of the year with some plant-based comfort. Decided to remix one of my favorite dishes, canoas de plátano.

Translated to plantain canoes, this Puerto Rican dish features baked sweet plantain stuffed with a picadillo-style meat filling and topped with shredded cheese. These are a little on the slightly healthier side, since I didn’t deep fry the plantain but roasted it instead. I love the contrast in flavors between the sweet plantains and salty meat filling. The crispy, burnty texture of the tender plantains when broiled to melt the cheese? Whew!

Growing up, my mom would make these on occasion when she wanted the same flavors of a pastelón (a layered plantain and meat casserole) without all of the extra fuss. I decided to make these completely vegan, so my roommate could enjoy one of my childhood favorites. You can definitely make this with any kind of meat you like if you don’t want to use a “beefless” product: ground beef, turkey, or chicken will work great. As for plant-based options, stewed lentils, beans, or diced tofu would be my suggestion. I’d also recommended

Vegan Canoas

Serves: 4

Cook time: 35 minutes

4 large ripe plantains, ends cut, peeled, and partially split lengthwise down the center

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Picadillo Filling

Extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Simple Sofrito

2 tbsp capers, drained

1 can tomato sauce, unsalted

1 large bay leaf

1 13.7oz bag ground beefless crumbles (I used Gardein)

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth, as needed

Sazón spice blend, to taste

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Cheese of your choice (see note)

Note: I shredded a vegan mozzarella for my roommate and colby jack cheese for mine. Go for a cheese that will easily melt, like colby jack, cheddar, fontina, or provolone. Just make sure that you freshly grate the cheese rather than getting the pre-shredded stuff; the starchy substance used to keep the cheese from clumping together doesn’t allow it to melt evenly. You also save more money getting a block of cheese and grating it yourself.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Drizzle the peeled and cut plantains with the olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast the peeled plantains for 25-30 minutes until golden and fork tender.

While the plantains are roasting, start on the filling. In a large frying pan, add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Over medium heat, sauté the sofrito until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Then stir in the capers, tomato sauce, and bay leaf. Fold in the ground beefless crumbles and stir. Depending on how saucy you want the picadillo filling to be, add a little bit of water or vegetable broth. Start with the 1/4 cup and see how it feels. You don’t want it too liquidy, but loose enough to be slightly saucy. Season to your liking with with sazón spice blend, kosher salt, and black pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the crumbles are completely warmed through. Turn heat to low and cover with a lid to keep warm.

When the plantains are tender and cooked through in the center, carefully remove them from the oven and spoon the filling into the center of the plantain boat, spreading out evenly between each plantain. Keep in mind that the size of the plantain boat will determine just how much filling will go in the center, so if you have any leftover picadillo filling, feel free to freeze it for another day. I ended up using the remaining filling (about 2 cups worth) for sheet pan nachos the next day!

Top each filled plantain with the shredded cheese of your liking and turn the broil function on your oven to get the cheese melty and burnty on the top (mine went for about 4 minutes). Serve immediately and enjoy!

¡Buen provecho!