Jackfruit "Pulled Pork" Sandwiches

WHOA! So, I'm back from overseas and I have been cooking up a storm, but not updating the foodblog. Trying to resume. Overseas, I was not vegan. I was too busy/isolated/infected with parasites not to eat whatever was put in front of me. I did manage to stay vegetarian. It's good to be back in the world of vegan.

I think our most recent "jackfruit pulled pork" sandwiches are a good recipe to get back with. Memphis Tap Room in Philadelphia had some pretty off the chain vegan jackfruit crabcakes, and I ate a fair amount of jackfruit when I was in Indonesia, but I hadn't thought about it in awhile. WHAT A MISTAKE. It's awesome.

Any Asian Grocer (i.e. H-Mart on Dequindre) will have canned jackfruit. Get the young/green kind in brine (not ripe or in syrup) because the ripe one is sweet.

I used 2 cans for the recipe. Start by prepping the jackfruit. Cut the center bits off leaving only the stringy part (where to cut will be self-evident on each piece). You can puree or finely chop the "waste" so you don't have to throw it away, or you can just throw it away. I threw it away the first time, but will probably try not to waste it next time.

You can veganize any BBQ pulled pork recipe with great ease, but the basics are:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sautee sliced jackfruit in pan with "dry rub" any combo of mustard seed, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt.

2. Let that cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often to get nice and flavorous. In a separate pan, sautee some red onions-- about half an onion finely chopped will do nicely, and about 5-6 cloves of garlic. Combine that with the dry-rubbed jackfruit and then add the "wet ingredients" that turn it into barbecue. Again, any recipe for pulled-pork barbecue sauce can be easily veganized but the basics are: tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup (or brown sugar), catsup, water and more seasonings to taste.

3. Let that simmer for about 30 minutes. I like my BBQ really vinegary and spicy, but make it how you like it. You can also add some raisins (as long as you don't have to share a room with my husband for the nest 18-24 hours), or a grated apple (granny smith will do nicely). Also, if you want to make a shortcut, you can just dump a bottle of premade bbq sauce over the jackfruit.  Most of them are vegan (just check on honey).

4. Once the flavors have melded, dump everything into a lightly greased pan, spread it out thinly, and bake if for about 20-30 minutes to let it dry up a little. I think this step makes it have a more meatlike consistency.

5. Serve it with pickles and vegan coleslaw if you like that (I don't) on a bun (see next recipe for peasant bread).

IT IS SERIOUSLY GOOD.

Stuffed Peppers!

-4 ripe red peppers
-3/4 c. TVP
-1 can diced tomatoes (i got "italian seasoning" flavor)
-1 small onion, finely minced
-5-6 cloves garlic
-1 c. cooked rice
-1/2 chopped spinach (frozen type)
-1/2 c. cheddar daiya (or any cheese alternative), optional
-1 T. oil
-1-2 T. vegan worcestershire sauce to taste (annie's or wizard's are vegan)
-1 veggie boullion cube
-1/2 c. water
-oregano, salt, pepper, chili powder, basil to taste
-breadcrumbs as topping (optional)

Reconstitute the TVP with the can of tomatoes and about 1/2 c. hot water. Dissolve the boullion cube in the water before mixing it in. While that is reconstituting, sautee the onion in the oil over medium heat, adding the garlic once the onions are translucent and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 5 more minutes. Mix onions and garlic in with TVP, add chopped spinach, cheese, rice, worcestershire, and seasonings. Add more water as necessary. Season liberally as TVP and rice are both quite bland.

Cut the tops off 4 red peppers, remove the guts. Spoon the mixture into the peppers and cook for 55-65 minutes at 350. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

I served mine with a side of steamed kale.

Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella Sandwich Summer

This weekend, my awesome friend Jason visited and we made some DELICIOUS caprese-style sandwiches. They were perfect for the stupid-hot weather and we discovered a delicious new fake cheese, daiya brand, at the local-bourgey-chain market near me: Plum Market.

We talked a lot about how important it is to be conscious of what you eat whether it be vegan/cruelty-free/organic/etc, and it really reinforced my convictions as a vegan. Since moving to the middle of nowhere and spending more and more time with my well-intentioned but thoroughly nonvegan family, it's been really challenging to stay enthusiastic about what i "can't" eat.

Being vegan is rad!

Ingredients:
-french or italian bread (we got Livonia small batch local stuff)
-daiya brand fake mozzarella
-a ripe tomato, sliced thin
-0.25 of an avocado per sandwich
-1-2 leaves of fresh basil per sandwich

1. Under the broiler, toast the bread on both sides. While toasting the second side, liberally apply the fake cheese shreds to one side of the sandwich and watch it melt under the broiler... melty but not burnt.

2. Thoroughly wash and pat the basil dry. Tear it up into little tidbits. If you are pulling fresh basil off a plant that you got form Home Depot, always clip it from the top, right above the next row of leaves, that way your mom won't keep yelling at you for killing the basil plant every other week because you kept pulling leaves off haphazardly leaving all stems, sorry Mom.

3. Mash the 0.25 of the avocado and spread it on the other slice of bread.

4. Add tomato slices.

5. Add basil tidbits.

6. Squish it down flat. Cut it in half triangle-ways.

celebrity cooking

to attract more traffic to my blog and exploit my friends for my own internet notoriety and eventual fame, the ever attractive and popular liam p wilson, bassist for the dillinger escape plan, is making a guest appearance today. this afternoon, we made a delicious thai-inspired coconut curry.

i was gonna post a picture of liam "shredding" on bass, as they call it, but i don't feel like googling for one, so here he is tasting the delicious curry and looking like a creep.


ingredients:
-2 cans of coconut milk
-small can of bamboo shoots
-2-3 heapings tsps of green curry paste (to taste)
-half a bunch fresh spinach, washed and chopped
-1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
-one red pepper, sliced
-one vidalia onion, chopped
-6-8 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-shiitake mushrooms, sliced
-salt to taste
-rice or noodles

in a skillet or saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil add the sweet potatoes and cook them until soft in the coconut milk. add the curry paste, chopped spinach, and basil. in a separate skillet, sautee the onion in some oil, turn down the heat and add the garlic, then add the mushrooms and the red peppers. sautee them for a few minutes, and then dump them in the other saucepan where, by now, the potato should be about cooked. add salt to taste and serve over rice or noodles-- i like the soba buckwheat and wild yam noodles.

Pineapple Basil Sorbet

I'm obsessed with the pineapple-basil combination for spring and summer because it makes me feel alive.

-2 cans of pineapple
-fresh basil
-3 tablespoons coconut milk

Open the cans and dump EVERYTHING into a freezer bag or tupperware and freeze overnight. Throw it in a food processor with as much basil as you like (or as much that needs to be picked from your mom's basil plant when you are still living at home even though you are employed) along with about 3 tablespoons (give or take) or coconut milk or any other creamy dairy alternative you have laying around... something sweetened, in my book. Food process it until its homogenously creamy and the basil bits are chomped up.

Yumsville.