Vegan Mexican Appetizer with Jackfruit Carnitas

 

I recently tried cooking with jackfruit for the first time. I used Tex Mex spiced jackfruit from the The Jackfruit Company, found in the produce section of my local Ingles grocery store.
First, I diced and then sautéed two medium shallots, in an oven safe pan (could substitute 1 medium diced onion) with a little neutral oil.
The Tex Mex jackfruit was pretty spicy on it’s own (straight out of the bag).
So I just medium low heat fried it in the cast iron skillet.
Let cook down a bit (5 min?), then “pull” the fruit with a fork until it is all shredded.
Next, add a (drained) 14.5 oz can of your favorite beans to the pan.
I used Goya brand black beans.
Layer the beans as evenly over your jackfruit mix as possible.
Next, in a separate smaller sauté pan with neutral oil on medium heat, add 1 diced red bell pepper, and 3-4 minced garlic cloves.
Add bag of frozen corn to red pepper mix… cook until heated and tender.
When the bell pepper, garlic, and corn are softened and roasty, spread this mix evenly onto the bean layer of the pan headed for the oven.
Salt and pepper to your taste.
Top this all with as many pickled or fresh jalapeno’s as your taste requires, or can handle.
Then add Mexican blend cheese or vegan cheese to top it all off.
I used GoVeggie Vegan Mexican blend shredded cheese.
The vegan cheese tasted very good with the dish, but did not ever melt after many attempts to help it.  Ah well… can’t win them all!
I put the dish in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 (until bubbling)… 20 minutes of that time was covered in foil.
When you think you have a bubbling hot Mexican appetizer, take it out of the oven to cool a bit. Then top it all off with fresh cilantro leaves and a few squeezes of fresh lime.
Dip directly for pan with corn tortilla chips, or serve on small plates with tortilla chips.
Eat well!

1 bag of The Jackfruit Company Tex Mex jackfruit heated and shredded.
optional: a dash or two of liquid smoke. (I used Stubb’s liquid smoke flavor.)
2 shallots or 1 smallish onion diced.
3-4 minced garlic cloves or more to taste.
Salt and peeper to taste.
1 14.5 oz drained can of beans ( black or?)
1 small bag of frozen organic corn kernels.
1 red bell pepper coarsely chopped
Sliced pickled or fresh jalapeno to taste.
Handful of fresh cilantro leaves only.
Several lime wedges for juice squeezing.