Happy Independence Day America! On this day of freedom I like to be at full liberty to emancipate my taste buds and indulge in some unrestrained lip-smacking, finger-licking, mouth-watering Sexiness. 'Merica! Who's with me?
Now this one is for you boys! (The ladies will love it too.) I'm not a big fan of the fake meats out there. They are pretty highly processed and are never actually like the thing they are imitating. And frankly, I feel that most of them give "vegan food" a bad name. Give me a well-prepared, plump, juicy, Sexie Veggie to put in my mouth and I'm one satisfied girl. But what about some of those dishes from my youth? My southern(ish) youth? Let me take you on an exotic trip to Thailand and we are going to make your 4th of July BBQ pulled pork dreams come true minus Wilbur and all the chemicals.
Introducing Jackfruit. Having very little flavor itself, it can take on other flavors, making it quite the jack-of-all-trades. When cooked it has a meaty, stringy texture like shredded chicken or pulled pork. If you live in a bigger city you can find it at Asian markets or possibly the Asian section of your grocery store. If not, the cans can be purchased online.
BarbeCute Jackfruit Sliders
What you'll need:
1 can jackfruit in water or brine (not syrup!)
1/4 cup diced onion
4 cloves "spanked" garlic (Spanked? What? Click here)
Bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
4 tbsp cholesterol-free mayo (Like Vegenaise)
1 tsp garlic powder
8 slider buns
Handful of arugula
Drain your can of jackfruit and shower it with water to wash off the brine. Give the pieces of jackfruit a good squeeze to press the water out. That'll give it room to soak up the BBQ flavors later.
Heat a pan on medium high and lube it up with some olive oil. Add your onion, spanked garlic, and squeezed jackfruit and saute for five minutes.
Then lavish them with BBQ sauce and lower the heat a bit. Put a lid on the pan to let them sweat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Every once in a while check in on them to see if they need anything: a sip of water, another drink of BBQ sauce, or to shake things up with your spatula. Also, while they are loosening up, use your spatula to break up the jackfruit pieces to get more of a stringy texture. About 10 minutes before the jackfruit mixture is done cooking make some easy garlic aioli by mixing your cholesterol-free mayo with the garlic powder. Then toast those buns!
When your jackfruit is soft and full of BBQ-sauce-goodness, construct your sliders. Spread the garlic aioli on both buns, pile the bottom bun with BBQ pulled jackfruit, garnish with arugula, and top it with a toasty bun hat. Now let freedom ring!
