BBQ Pulled "Pork"

  Okay, I made vegan pulled "pork" for dinner last night.  I was inspired by, but did not strictly follow, this recipe http://cleangreensimple.com/2011/05/carolina-pulled-pork-sandwich/.  So, how does one go about making pulled pork out of jackfruit?  Well, I was getting to that point :)

  First, you need to put some oil in your pan to saute some onion and garlic.  Oil isn't strictly necessary - you can saute with your favorite veggie broth.  If you use the veggie broth, you only want to keep enough in the pan so your veggies don't stick to the bottom.  Add one chopped onion and a few pressed garlic cloves.  I used 3, feel free to use more or less.   You want to cook these until the onions get soft.

  While your garlic and onion is cooking, open and drain a can of jackfruit.  Make sure you get the jackfruit that is packed in water or brine, NOT syrup.  Cut off the firm core from the fruit pieces.  Put the fruit in a large bowl and add spices.  Now, your spice list may be different than mine.  You want to season this how you would like YOUR bbq.  Everyone has their own preference.  I used some fresh ground black pepper, granulated garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, chili powder, and brown sugar.  Toss the jackfruit around in the spices until it's all coated, and add to your cooking onion and garlic.  Let this cook together for about 5 minutes.

  At this point, you will need to either add about 3/4 cup of your BBQ sauce to the pan to simmer OR combine 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce with 1/4 cup water and mix.  I'm not sure what exactly this is for, but the original recipe called for the water... I just added 3/4 cup of my sauce.  Any veggie friendly sauce will work here, but you want your spices to compliment the sauce.  Let this simmer for about 5 minutes.

  Now, you want to shred the jackfruit.  I used my Pampered Chef Mix n' Chop.  LOVE this product.  But, feel free to use a spatula, forks, or whatever you would normally use to shred up stuff.  The fruit will get stringy, like pulled pork.  Cover your pot and let it cook for another 20 minutes.  Turn your oven on to 350F to preheat.

  Uncover your pot and inhale the deliciousness.  Now, if you were cooking stove top with an oven safe pan, like I was, you can just pop your pan in the oven for 15 - 20 min. If not, you will need to put your pulled "pork" on a cookie sheet to bake.  This step help give the fruit a meatier texture and also could crisp up the sugars in your seasoning and sauce.  If you want it crisp, just make sure you don't burn the whole batch.  That would be very sad.

  Now, you pull the fruit out of the oven and make it up however you would normally eat your BBQ.  I put it on some toast with a slice of GoVeggie vegan cheese.  Top with some sauce and enjoy :)  This recipe, using 1 can of jackfruit, serves about 2 and a half.  Hubby and I each had 1 sandwich and hubby had some seconds.