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Pulled Jackfruit Barbacoa Sandwich

Pulled Jackfruit Barbacoa Sandwich

I have been a vegetarian for over 25 years and have never heard of jackfruit, let alone using it as a meat substitute. So the other day my daughter Jess and I went to SLC to get her eyes checked. We decided to try this little vegan place that we heard about called Buds. I had the barbacoa sandwich and it was amazing. So, yeah....I had to try to do this at home, and here is what I did...

First, I learned that when you use jackfruit as a meat substitute, you can use fresh green jackfruit (I have no idea where to find that) or you can get it in a can. BUT. Do not get the jackfruit in syrup....it needs to be the young green jackfruit packed in brine. 

Looks like this:

Found it at the 1st Oriental Market downtown. 

One can will make 2 or 3 sandwiches.

Rinse the brine off the jackfruit...

Then squish it a little between your palms to remove the excess water.

Next, in a pan saute a big clove of garlic per can of jack fruit.

Add a teaspoon of Better Than Bullion vegetable broth paste and stir. 

Next throw in the rinsed jackfruit.

saute for a few minutes.

add some Braggs (be generous)

now for the dry spices:

(sorry....I did not measure, but I did coat the jackfruit pretty well...like a bbq dry rub)

smoked paprika

cumin

salt 

pepper

red pepper flakes 

oregano

The jack fruit will start to resemble shredded meat. It should get to the point that it is fork tender. 

next I added a bit more Braggs (you could also go with soy sauce here, but I just like Braggs so much better)

add some of your favorite bbq sauce, or if you have a killer bbq sauce recipe you like, use that.

squirt in some yellow mustard.

Sriracha! 

(careful! hot! Add according to taste...I love it HOT!)

Mix, and let it simmer for a few minutes.

At this point I transfered it to my slow cooker and put it on low for a couple of hours. The flavors do magic stuff if you give them some time. 

While the jackfruit barbacoa was slow cooking away, I made a quick ginger yogurt sauce:

2 parts plain greek yogurt

1 part vegenaise (vegan mayo)

A bunch of freshly grated ginger

Mix.

Let it sit in the fridge until you are ready to put together the sandwich.

I found lovely ciabatta buns at the local market 

and toasted them.

Spread on the ginger yogurt spread.

Add a handful of very finely shredded green cabbage.

so yum. 

yumminess...

ribbon zucchini pasta tossed in mushrooms, red peppers, and goat cheese...

i don't do eggs, so i opted for zucchini ribbon noodles.....so easy and sooooooo good! just use a veggie peeler and slice long noodley strips until you hit seeds then turn the zucchini and do it again! put the "noodles" in a colander and salt heavily. the salt pulls the moisture out of the zucchini. the longer you let it sit, the more noodle like the strips become...i let mine sit for about thirty minutes. no need to cook. 

saute one or two cloves of garlic and add some chopped mushrooms and red bell peppers. once the veggies are nice and tender, toss in a bit of goat cheese (this is where i threw in the zucchini noodles)  and a splash of white wine. i didn't have any white wine in the house so i splashed a bit of white wine vinegar. i have no idea if it brings a similar taste, but it was fantastic! next time i will remember the wine! 

anyhoo.....try this! first time i have been glad to be the only one who likes goat cheese and mushrooms in my house......it's all mine! ha!

vegan creamy potato soup

this soup is yummy.... not to mention healthy.

very easy...

first add olive oil to a nice big soup pot

chop:

 5 or 6 celery stalks

1 medium sized cauliflower

6 medium to small sized potatoes

throw all that in and saute

add salt to taste...it's a big pot so at least 2 or 3 teaspoons

add a tablespoon or so of dried ground rosemary (fresh would be even better)

just stir every so often and let the veggies do their thing

after a few minutes:

fill the pot with cold water, just enough to cover all the veggies

let simmer for a while...

until everything starts to break down

maybe add a little extra virgin olive oil at this phase, but only if you want to

next.....blend!

maybe top with some fresh chives or dill and maybe a small dollop of sour cream

enjoy!

sauteed veggie & black bean sloppy joe's

.....and kale chips


***

olive oil

saute chopped green bell pepper

add chopped zucchini & yellow squash

add thyme

pinch of hing

pretty sure i threw some oregano in there

add a bunch of lovely red tomatoes chopped

let simmer...cause it's summer

add a couple cups of cooked black beans

(i smashed 'em up a bit with my hands)

a pinch of dill weed

maybe a tablespoon of paprika

an arm full of fresh chopped spinach

cover to let wilt

stir it up

I wanted ciabatta buns, but the damn bakery was out

so, wheat pita bread it is

now...

decide to make homemade kale chips

(thanks sandra franks for this gem of a recipe)

just washed and dried flat kale

get rid of the fat stems

rip into pieces 

drizzle a couple table spoons olive oil

toss to cover completely

sprinkle some salt...i used big chunky sea salt

put in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 11 minutes

seriously.....seriously tasty

um....yeah

dinnahhhhhh......

i don't even really have a recipe for this one.

let's try.

olive oil in a pan...don't skimp.

a little hing

a little pepper

a giant red bell pepper chopped

lift the heat a bit

 half a brick of tofu crumbled

a generous squirt of braggs

a vegetable bouillion cube...smashed

thinly sliced carrots

thyme

oregano

sea salt

a can of organic tomatoes (garden not quite ready)

some water

....simmer

add cooked angel hair pasta and toss

let the pasta soak up all that goodness

throw on good amount of chopped fresh spinach

plate the pasta

top with freshly grated asiago cheese

eat

saturday morning mash...

joe's gone to yoga and the girls are still sleeping. time to make saturday morning mash! i like to sit in the morning on my couch in the kitchen (yeah, that's right, i broke the social norm rules of where furniture is placed in a people house) and think about my day and try to wrap my brain around being awake. 

first step is to fry up the fake sausage. 1/2 pack sausage and 1/2 bell pepper chopped

 i like the gimme lean's sausage. i put a little olive oil in a pan and let it get pretty hot. then just fry up and chop it up....pretty easy...now that it is all nice and brown, place it on a cookie sheet in the oven (on warm)

half of a 32 oz. bag of frozen southern style cubes hash browns.

same deal. nice hot olive oil. maybe throw in a little hing and fresh ground pepper, then toss the tatters in. when they get nice and brown, move them to that cookie sheet with the sausage and chopped peppers.

now for the tofu :)

once again, small amount of olive oil heated up.

1 teaspoon-ish black mustard seeds

let sit in the oil until they start to pop! then quickly add...

1/2 teaspoon hing

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 packs of tofu

stir and break up tofu. if you want the tofu a bit more yellow, just add a bit more turmeric.

add 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

splash of braggs liquid amino

cover and simmer....the tofu will get quite watery as it cooks. this is good..because next after it has cooked for several minutes you will add....

4 to 6 table spoons nutritional yeast 

this mixes with the watery stuff and makes a freaking killer sauce!

now just simmer for a few minutes then add all the stuff you have sitting in the oven!

get yourself a lovely cup o coffee and maybe a slice of toast....scrumptious!!!