Though still debated, Tucson is generally credited as the original home of the chimichanga (fried "burro", as we call them, stuffed with meat, onions and chilies). I've combined several recipes into this one, and it's fairly authentic.
While not nearly as sweet as bananas, plantains do have a sweet flavor. In this soup we keep that sweetness at bay by using firm plantains with green skins rather than riper brown-skinned ones--the sugars will have not yet developed, so the fruit will add starchy body to the soup without too much sweetness.
This sauce, using only garlic, salt, lemon juice, and oil, can be used as a condiment on grilled meats, as a salad dressing, and in dishes that require good garlic flavor.
When winter is getting me down, this is what I make. I've found roasting Roma tomatoes is about the only way to make a store-bought tomato bought in the dead of winter taste "real."
