Paleo Latin American Dinner Party

It’s been hot and steamy here in Vermont for the past few weeks, so when we had a few friends over for dinner recently, I had two requirements for our menu: (1) I craved tropical flavors; and (2) It had to be no-fuss and preferably made on the grill.

crispychicken

This is the menu that I landed on (partially inspired by a fried chicken recipe from Cook’s Illustrated):
Crispy Latin American Chicken
Cucumber-Pineapple Salsa
Crispy Plantains with Garlic Sauce
(I guess I really needed things to be crispy, too!)

Crispy Latin American Chicken | meljoulwan.comCrispy Latin American Chicken

cucumber-pineapple-salsa
Cucumber-Pineapple Salsa

Crispy Plantains with Garlic Sauce | meljoulwan.comCrispy Plantains with Garlic Sauce

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Comments

  • Joe " paleo panda" Rovito says:

    Holy smokes, this looks rockin! I am going to make this ASAP!!

  • Lydia says:

    This looks AMAZING. Also, hurray for dinner parties with friends! I’m happy Vermont has welcomed you and you’ve found a good place, there.

  • Katelynn says:

    I made this yesterday and my boyfriend and I loved it. We don’t have a grill so we cooked it on the stovetop and finished it in the oven as you suggested. It was delicious. The garlic sauce is life changing! I feel like it takes me 20 minutes to fry the plantains though. I was standing over the stove flipping them for what felt like a really long time. How do you do it in five? Great meal and really what I needed on day 13 of my Whole 30. I had the pineapple salsa and fried plaintains with garlic sauce as part of my breakfast this morning. Thank you!

    • I’m glad it was a hit! I really love the garlic sauce, too. MAGIC!

      Re: the plantains. I get the pan scary-hot, add the fat and let it get scary hot, then put in the plantains. 2-3 minutes on one side, flip them all, 2-3 minutes on the other side. The key is to get the oil hot before you add the plantains… and don’t touch them for the first 2-3 minutes.

  • Rose Thorsson says:

    Super excited about the new cookbook in 2016! Hey, where did you get that beautiful dress (shown above) from?

  • Lynn says:

    Made this tonight, it was fantastic. I dont have a gas grill, so did the chicken under the broiler. Totes worked. I originally wasn’t going to make the salsa but the comments on the recipe page changed my mind. So glad they did!

  • Hayat says:

    Yummie, yummie! On our menu this weekend.

  • Sandy says:

    Sounds great! Question, was this your full menu? You didn’t make a salad or anything else. I know you said u wanted something no fuss…

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