Pulled Jackfruit Tacos

We've recently been trying out some vegan dishes and experimenting with including more plant based meals in our diet.  It's a great way to broaden our tastes and of course eat more vegetables and pulses.  My family will usually eat most things if they taste good enough to satisfy their tastes, and this meal was a hit with everyone.  Most of my family didn't even realise that there was no meat at all in the dish, jackfruit is great at absorbing flavours and has a 'meaty' texture.

With the recent unseasonably warm weather, these tacos were perfect for a weekend supper sitting out in the sun.  I never thought we'd be able to do that in the UK in Febriary, we had snow at the beginning of the month!  

Pulled Jackfruit Tacos

2 large onions, thinly sliced into strips

4 Tblsp oil

2 tsp Tamari, or soy sauce

3 tins green jackfruit in water, about 400g each

8 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 tsp Cumin seeds, ground

2 tsp Garlic powder

3 tsp Smoked paprika

½ tsp Chilli powder, to taste

salt and pepper to taste

300ml vegetable stock

To serve

8 soft tortillas, or more

1 or two red onion, finely sliced

2 peppers, deseeded and thinly sliced

1 or 2 avocados, sliced

fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 200C.  Cook onion in oil on a low heat for 10 minutes until softened and sweet, be patient and don't rush this step.  Drain the jackfruit then break up into smaller chunks.  Add to the onions with all the remaining ingredients.  Increase the heat and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes or more until the liquid has been absorbed.

Tip the jackfruit mixture on to a lined oven tray and spread out to an even layer.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring twice during cooking.  You want the jackfruit to be lightly browned and no longer overly moist.  Serve on soft tortillas with sliced avocado, red pepper, red onion, a sprinkle of sliced chilli and fresh coriander.

Middle Eastern Inspired Pilaf with Chickpeas

I'm constantly trying to create dishes that fill our tums for pennies and taste delicious.  There's always rice in our store cupboard, along with spices and dried fruit, so this scrumptious pilaf was easy for me to whip up one evening when the shopping delivery hadn't come due to bad weather.  I've made it a few times, and adjusted the spices to our tastes.  Now that it has been thoroughly tested and approved by my family of hungry taste testers, I can blog the recipe.  This Middle Eastern Inspired Pilaf has been a delicious, filling, and thrifty discovery which will feature on our Family Meal Plans in the future. 

Middle Eastern Inspired Pilaf with Chickpeas

2 Tblsp oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 pepper, deseeded and diced
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
4 whole cloves
6 peppercorns
2 cinnamon sticks
300g uncooked long grain rice
400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
75g raisins
600ml vegetable stock
75g lightly roasted cashews, roughly chopped

Put the oil in a large saucepan over a medium high heat.  Cook the onion and pepper until softened.  Add the rice and spices and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes, to enable the spices to become fragrant and to coat the rice in the oil.  Add the chickpeas, raisins and vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is tender.  Stir through the cashews and then garnish with fresh mint.