pulled pork sandwich

i live in kansas city, and there is no shortage of good barbecue sauces here.  and man, do i love a good bbq sauce - especially grilled up on some veggies. since it's winter and too cold to grill, lately i've been enjoying it on pulled pork sammies.  there are a variety of ways to make vegan pulled pork - my personal favourite would have to be using young green jackfruit, as it has a nice shredded texture and absorbs the bbq flavour well. i get it at my local asian grocer. you can find a handful of pulled pork recipes using jackfruit online - it's not a new concept - but here is the recipe i've created and always use. 

• 1 can young green jackfruit
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 tablespoon bragg liquid aminos
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/3 cup water
• 2/3 veggie broth
• 1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 cup hickory bbq sauce
• 1½ tablespoon heinz 57 sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

drain the quartered jackfruit from the brine or water it's in (be sure to use young or green jackfruit).  rinse all the pieces thoroughly and squeeze each piece to remove as much water as possible. while draining and squeezing, shred each piece (it's very tender) before putting into a 2 quart saucepan.  after all the jackfruit pieces are in the pan, add in the water, garlic, onion and mustard powder, bragg's and ground pepper.  turn the heat on medium high and cook for approximately 12 minutes or until the water has completely evaporated.  since the water content is so low, be sure and stir often - almost sautéeing.  if it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan but hasn't started to darken up a bit, add in a couple tablespoons of water...  but be sure to cook that off again.

after the water is gone, the jackfruit should be a little darker in colour, almost like a very light brown or dirty white.  at this point, turn the heat to low and stir in the rest of the ingredients. cover and simmer on low heat for about an hour and a half, removing the lid half way through.  the sauce should reduce an thicken up considerably.  after it's done cooking,  let it sit for about another hour to really allow the jackfruit to marinate.  finally,  toss it back on low heat for about another 15-20 minutes and then serve.  with pickles.

barbecue veggie kabobs

i live in the midwest, and have grown up eating grilled barbecue food for most of my life. i love portabello mushrooms, stuffed green peppers, homemade brats, and everything in between. i really love veggie kabobs because you can use a variety of veggies to mix it up each time. this isn't really a 'recipe', per se, but an idea of how us veggie folks grill non-meat style. trust me, it is so filling! pardon my non-plated picture, but i was just too hungry!


veggie varieties:

• mushrooms
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• bell peppers, any color
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• cactus
• corn cob sections

cut all your favourite produce so it is close to bite-sized. find some wooden or metal skewers, and mix and match all your veggies. i use a basting brush, and coat everything heavily in bbq sauce. if you have too many veggies, toss the remainders in a grill basket with seasoning salt. make sure to put things like corn and potato slices on their own skewer as they need longer amounts of time to grill. after starting those kabobs, add the skewers with more tender veggies - they finish up in about 7-10 minutes on grill-medium heat.

when everything is grilled, pull all veggies off and eat up. optionally, serve on a bed of rice.

on a side note, i kept wanting to spell 'kebab' - but i guess that is traditionally more meat oriented. if i would google just 'kabob', it would ask me if wanted to spell 'kebab' instead. but i would google 'veggie kebab', it would ask me to spell 'veggie kabob'. interesting....

vegan barbecue pork chops

it's funny, i never liked pork chops even when i did eat meat. lately, however, i've been really interested to see how close i can get to 'replicating' certain tastes. after i made the miso mustard slaw last week, i thought it would pair nicely with a barbecue flavour of some sort.


for the chop:

• 1 1/2 cups wheat gluten
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons veggie broth
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 cup low sodium soy
• 1/8 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon cajun/creole seasoning
• 1 tablespoon lipton savory herb garlic soup powder
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

for the marinade:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup bbq sauce
• 3/4 tablespoon stoneground mustard
• 1 teaspoon all spice

• 1 cup breadcrumbs (optional)
  

combine wet chop ingredients into the dry, and knead for approximately two minutes. add additional water if it is too dry. at this point, you will have 1 large ball - you can either cut or pull apart the individual chops and then flatten each one. i made about 4 pork chop-sized cutlets from the amount listed.

mix up marinade and coat each chop well. put the rest of the marinade in an 8x11 glass baking dish and let the cutlets marinade for several hours (or overnight).

after marinating, pour off and reserve the liquid. bake chops at 375°f for 40 minutes, flipping half way through. to encrust, pull chops out of oven for several minutes. using tongs, dip each into the reserved marinade, and then into breadcrumbs. put back into dish, and continue cooking at 375°f for about 10 minutes. serve on a bed of miso mustard cabbage slaw.

cheesy quiona and bbq veggies

currently, the hippest grain on the block is quinoa. i've made some successful and some not-so-successful dishes in my attempts to master it. below is my latest recipe that i'm chalking up in the successful category.

• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup mixed bell pepper strips
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup of your favourite barbecue sauce

for the cheese sauce:

• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons fat free nayonaise

i wanted to grill my veggies, but it's about 10 degrees here so i went about it another way. spread the bell peppers and broccoli florets in a glass baking dish and coat with barbecue sauce. bake for about 20 minutes at 400°f, until they start to roast. flip halfway through.

right after you pop the veggies in the oven, start cooking quinoa. to cook: soak quinoa in hot water for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse. add 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes or so.

while everything is cooking, get out the magic bullet or blender and whip up the cheese sauce by blending all the listed ingredients. after the veggies have finished roasting, flip the oven to the broiler setting, and broil the veggies for about 5-10 minutes until the edges start to brown.

finally, combine quinoa and cheese sauce, and fold in the barbecued veggies.