jackfruit-tacco — Jackfruit tacos, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

I never had jackfruit in my life until last night. And just like that this weird plant food became one of my favorite ingredients and the one I want to use in as many of my dishes as possible. What is jackfruit?

Jackfruit is a popular ingredient in South and Southeast Asian cooking, but it remains obscure to most living in the Western world. This means that finding jackfruit may turn out to be difficult as your regular grocery store is unlikely to carry it. But, let me tell you: jackfruit is so wonderful that it is worth jumping through few hoops to get it. My starting point were online retailers, like Amazon, and that would have been fine has it not been for the fact that I wanted to start cooking right away and could not wait for the delivery.

So I got down to plan B and found a local Asian market, in my case Formosa Marketplace, and the place did not disappoint. They got exactly what I was looking for – young jackfruit in brine. Jackfruit also comes ripe in syrup, but that is not the kind that you want for your savory dishes, plus it is not the kind that seems particularly healthy given all that added sugar. If you are interested in learning more about jackfruit and getting the idea what type of dishes you can use it in, the Vegetarian Resource Group has a useful post.

How do you get from a can of young jackfruit to a taco filling? It’s super easy. All you need to do is rinse the jackfruit and let it drain and dry. Once the jackfruit stops dripping, you will need to go and pull the fruit pieces apart, which does take a bit of effort and time but makes for more surface area to absorb all the lovely flavors you will add next.

Although you could use a pre-made taco seasoning mix, there’s no need for that as those usually contain quite a lot of quite unnecessary salt. One additional ingredient that you will need is almond cheese. I have not yet figured out how to make almond cheese on my own, so for now I get the one from my local Trader Joe’s. They carry shredded almond cheese that is delicious and affordable.

When all is said and done, your jackfruit taco filling will look something like this.

jack-fruit-tacco-filling — Jackfruit Taco filling, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

To build tacos, you will also need corn tortillas, but possibilities are close to endless. You can customize your tacos by adding salsa, avocado, fire roasted green chili peppers, cilantro, lime juice, and shredded iceberg lettuce. For me some cucumber slices and pearl tomatoes on the side hit the spot!

Jackfruit Tacos

What you’ll need (for 4 tacos, 2 people):

1 10 oz. (280 g) can of young jackfruit in brine

1 onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 lime, just juice

1/4 cup water

4 corn tortillas, soft

1/2 cup almond cheese

cooking spray

What you’ll do:

Place jackfruit in a strainer and rinse it well with water to get rid of the salty brine. Let the jackfruit drain for 15-20 min, and then pat dry with a paper, or a cloth towel. Next, pull the jackfruit pieces apart to get a pile of finer shreds.
Spray the bottom of a pan with cooking spray and turn the heat to medium high. Add finely diced onion and minced garlic to the pan and let the onion and garlic aromas develop for 3-5 min.
Next add the spices and let them simmer for 1-2 min. This will help the spices toast and intensify the flavor. Don’t worry if some of your spices, onion or garlic stick to the bottom of the pan as lime juice and water that you’ll add next will serve to deglaze the bottom. You may need to adjust the amount of water as you go along, so I recommend starting easy by adding 1-2 tablespoons and going from there.
Once you are happy with the deglazing and the consistency, which should be somewhere between the ketchup and tomato paste, it’s time to add jackfruit. Make sure jackfruit is fully coated with your sauce, and simmer for 5-10 min, until jackfruit browns just slightly. Leave to the side.
Heat a non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and place over high heat. Put one corn tortilla in, top it with jackfruit filing and 1/4 of your cheese and fold the tortilla over. Brown on one side for 1-2 min then flip over and brown on the other side for 1 min or so.
Enjoy!

Note: You can use leftover taco filling in number of different ways. You can top a sandwich, or rice and other grains, as well as pasta or zucchini spaghetti.

In many ways Shepherd’s Pie is a humble dish. But, it is also one of the best loved go-to comfort foods, which earned it one of the top places on the epicurious most popular recipes list. Although meat features prominently as a key ingredient, I have recently tackled this meat-lover staple and transformed it into a hearty and healthy vegan feast.

Trust me, making Vegan Shepherd’s Pie is easy as a pie. The recipe below does not require any fancy equipment or fancy ingredients. To save time and money, I recommend using frozen vegetables – they are a great and inexpensive alternative to fresh. These days many grocery store chains also offer pre-washed, pre-chopped, ready-to-use vegetables. I tend to stay away from those as I find them to be overpriced and don’t offer much more (or different) than the frozen veg!

One recent discovery I made, which I must share because it’s one of those things I did not know that I would like before I tried it, is crushed garlic in a jar! I’ve been ignoring this product, mostly because I am a bit of a garlic purist, but once I tried it I am not going back, at least for dishes that cook and simmer for a while. Raw garlic is still a must for all the raw applications or when having sliced garlic is preferable to minced. If you want to go deeper into the jar vs. fresh garlic discussion Nava Atlas, a vegan and vegeterian blogger and writer, had a great post on the topic.

If you are wondering what’s the highlight of this dish for me, I have to say it is using coconut milk for mashed potato topping. It adds incredible creaminess and a subtle flavor that is further enhanced by placing your pie under a broiler for few minutes at the end. But more on that below.

So, arm yourself with an armful of vegetables and let’s get cooking!

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

What you’ll need:

For the filling

1 large onion, diced

3 large carrots, cut in rounds

4 stalks celery, diced

2 cups frozen peas (use fresh if you prefer)

2 cups frozen corn (use fresh if you prefer)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2/3 cup vegetable (vegan) low-sodium cooking stock

cooking spray

For the topping

2 lbs (1 kg) Russet (white) potatoes

1 cup light coconut milk

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

cooking spray

What you’ll do:

Spray the bottom of your Dutch oven, or any other pot that can go from the stove top straight into the oven, with the cooking spray and turn the heat to medium high. Add onions, carrots and celery. Let cook, with occasional mixing, for 5 min, until golden and soft.
Stir in tomato paste and thyme, and let their flavors develop for 1-2 min.
Add the stock, and use your wooden spoon to scrap up all the caramelized flavors from the bottom of your pot.
Next, peas and corn all go in. Mix it in and let everything simmer for 20-25 min. (Don’t think you can take a break at this point, as you do have mashed potato topping to make!)
Wash and peel your potatoes. Cut them in smaller pieces as this helps them boil faster. Put them in a pot with enough water to cover and boil for 15-20 min, until soft.
Drain the potatoes and let them cool a bit. Add coconut milk and garlic, and mash away until nice and smooth.
Top your Vegan Shepherd’s Pie filling with mashed potatoes, spread to cover and use your spoon to make the traditional crosshatch pattern on top. Spray with a bit of cooking oil to help with browning.
Put your pie into a 375F (190C) oven and cook for 20 min or so. Then turn on your broiler on HI, and broil for 5 minutes until the top gets nicely browned!
Voilà, you made it. Time to share and enjoy!

Note: as you may have noticed I don’t use extra salt in my recipes, and the stock I use is low-sodium. You will now best what your taste buds and your body can handle, so I leave it to you to decide whether you need salt or not. In my view, most dishes are just fine without any added salt and I bet you will be too!!!