Platanos Y Collard Greens

Hi there! My name is Jennifer Anderson; head cook and owner of Platanos Y Collard Greens, translated this reads Plantains and Collard Greens. I am so happy to bring to you, Huntsville and surrounding areas the best plantbased Latin Caribbean and southern Soul fusion!!
Just a bit of a backstory, I was born in Brooklyn NY to a Dominican mother and Puerto Rican father. I wasn't always a plantbased vegan. Without a doubt my meals as child almost always consisted of rice and beans in some form with a type of meat and you guessed it plantanos tostones or Maduros were nearly always a side on our plates. I loved my mothers cooking especially when she would make DR's traditional breakfast Mangu Tres Golpes which is mashed green plaintains topped with pickeled red onions, fried cheese or fried salami or both and a fried egg. Now i may be vegan but i wont deny flavor and if you know you, you know, mangu was always hit the spot! I also cant fail to mention when my dad would bring home fritura (fried treats) from the doña selling them out of her home in Bushwick; pasteles, empanadas, relleno de papa, Alcapurria.. the works!! My favorite being pasteles, traditionally made during the holidays this would be puertoricans version of mexican tamales. Our masa unlike corn tamales are made from grated root vegetables such as... platanos of course , green bananas pumpkin and yuca. It is then filled with your favorite meat filling, typically pork but also chicken and ground beef. Reluctantly i admit, it was delicious but until i became vegan i didnt realize that what i loved most about these dishes wasnt the meat itself but the flavors!! As i became more knowledgeable about plant based eating it occured to me like many of us that the flavors and seasonings of our favorite dishes can be replicated almost all the time with just a little practice love and sazon!!
When i moved to the south where i met my 14 year vegan husband i had collard greens for the first time!! I remember meeting his mom and her disinfecting and cleaning out the sink and then plopping what seemed like 2 arm fulls of greens into the sink to soak and clean. I observed intently on how to prepare greens and well i never looked back they have since become my favorite vegetable.
Simultaneously i became more familiar with southern and vegan food and soon my family dinner consisted of varieties from both my upbringing and my husbands.
And so Platanos Y Collard Greens was born. I am excited for you all to try these fusion of flavors and that they can become taste buds favorite