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.
Carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and celery are cooked along with the meat in a mixture of dried onion soup mix and condensed golden mushroom soup.
This hearty, spicy beef stew is only for those that can handle the heat. I prefer to make it in the slow cooker, but it can be made stove top also. Great served over mashed potatoes or rice.