BBQ Jack Lunch

BBQ Jack (made on the stove top, so much faster than the crock pot!)
Coleslaw (cabbage mix, vegan mayo, mustard, pepper)
tortilla
kiwi
cucumber
bell pepper
carrot
hummus

Vegan Pulled Pork Sandwiches

When I was growing up, church was three hours. In order to feed our hungry bellies after church in the quickest way possible, my parents would usually have something going in the slow cooker before we left for church. One of the things that I really enjoyed were the BBQ sandwiches. I'm not sure what meat was used (pork? beef?), but it was placed in the cooker and covered in BBQ sauce. When we got home, it was shredded and placed on toasted buns with slices of American cheese and pickles. I loved it. This is my vegan recreation of that.

Serves: 4 sandwiches (with about 1/2 cup leftover)



Inspired by BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich

Ingredients
1 15 oz can of jackfruit NOT IN SYRUP
1/2 12 oz jar of BBQ sauce (I used Stubb's BBQ Sauce, I think I was feeling particularly nostalgic for Texas the day I bought it.)

1/4 small cabbage
2 T vegan mayo
cumin
chiptole powder
salt
pepper

Bulkie buns
pickles
vegan cheese, optional (a nice vegan cheese sauce might be good here)


Method
Drain and rinse the jackfruit. Place the jackfruit into a 1.5 qt slow cooker, add BBQ sauce and stir until the jackfruit is covered. Cover the cooker and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. I let it go to 8 hours and that might have been too long. Using a strong fork "shred" the jackfruit.

For the coleslaw, shred the cabbage into "coleslaw" style pieces. Mix in the vegan mayo and spices. Taste and adjust seasoning. This is here to provide some crunchy contrast to the jackfruit.

Toast the rolls, place a portion of the jackfruit on the rolls, add some coleslaw, and top with pickles and optional cheese.

Notes
This was amazingly delicious. I have one more can of jackfruit in my pantry and I think I might have to make this again. We both really really enjoyed it, a lot. Make it, and make it soon.

Sweet Potato Spring Rolls

I was looking through my 200+ food blogs I am subscribed to and found inspiration from Bean Figz and Katz for a lunch my husband and I had this week. They are women after my own heart with their love of sriracha!



Ingredients
1.5 sweet potatoes
cumin
chili powder or chipotle powder
1/2 small cabbage, shredded
1.5 carrots, julienned
sriacha sauce
cilantro
spring roll wrappers
warm water

peanut butter
hot water
sesame oil
sriracha


Method
Begin by peeling and cubing the sweet potatoes. Boil, until tender, about 10 - 15 minutes. Drain and mash with cumin and chili powder to taste along with salt and pepper.

Put a spring roll wrapper in warm water (I usually use a pie pan for the water, it is about the same size as the wrapper) until it is softened. Place the wrapper on a plate lined with paper towels. Add sweet potatoes down the middle and top with some cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and a few squirts of sriracha. Roll up like a burrito. Repeat with the remaining spring roll wrappers until the sweet potatoes are gone.

For the peanut sauce: in a bowl combine 1 - 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter. Add 1 t of sesame oil with a couple of squirts of sriracha. Add a few tablespoons of hot water until the peanut butter mixture can be mixed easily. Stir until combined. Eat with spring rolls.


Notes
Both of us loved the spring rolls with the peanut sauce! Unfortunately, there was not enough food in this lunchbox to sustain us all day, but it was really good. We were both starving when we were going home. Hmm, I need to pack more food.

Also included was carrot sticks, kiwi fruit, pear, and blueberries.

Cabbage Rolls and Sea Vegetable/Cucumber Phyllo Purses

With the school year starting in a few weeks, I really want to get back in the habit of not eating out very much at all. I plan on making my lunch be what we had for dinner the night before. If I can just remember to pack the lunch boxes at night, I think that will work out just fine.

I was in the mood for cooking this evening!



Recipes from:
Inca Parcels (cabbage rolls with rice instead of amaranth) from Vegan

Sea Vegetable and Cucumber Phyllo Purses from Real Food Daily

Notes
This is the picture of our lunches that I packed tonight. Included with the parcels and purses are hummus, cherries, carrot sticks, corn nuts, and mini peanut butter crackers.

The phyllo purses are amazing. The texture is fabulous, the taste is outstanding, and they are fun to eat! Two thumbs up from both of us.

The parcels are just okay. The rice filling is pretty tasty, but when wrapped in the cabbage, the cabbage seemed to make everything taste very bland. I'll probably just eat the rice filling tomorrow and keep the cabbage separate.

Also, we still really really really like our Planet Box lunch boxes. They are just about the right size for us and are super cute. We get comments on them every time we eat lunch. I love them.

Baja Style Tempeh Tacos

Another recipe from Veganomicon.

I halved the recipe from the book and I used water instead of beer for the marinade because we didn't have any.




My sister bought me a cast iron wok for my birthday and used that to push down the cabbage slaw. It is coming in handy, already! I need to wait until I move next month to season it before I can start using it.





Notes
We both enjoyed these tacos throughly. When I was cooking the tempeh, I just added all the marinade to the pan and let it cook down. My husband couldn't stop eating that sauce. I look forward to making these again.

Mini Tofu Wontons

I still have wonton wrappers left over from wontons I made several weeks ago. It is a good thing they are still good.

I made the Hot and Sour Soup again, but it did not turn out as well the second time around. The broth wasn't as flavorful. I had made mini tofu wontons to go along with dinner and at least those were tasty.





Ingredients:
Wonton wrappers
Sriracha sauce
baked tofu
shredded cabbage (I used a broccoli slaw mix)

Method:

Lay a wonton wrapper on a flat surface. Squirt a line of sriracha in the middle of the sheet and place a piece of tofu on the sauce. Cover with a bit of the cabbage. Wet all the edges of the wrapper and roll up like a burrito, turning in the sides and rolling up the middle.

Preheat a cast iron pan over medium heat while rolling the wontons. Pour in enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Fry the wontons until brown on all sides, turning so each side is cooked, about 7 minutes.

Serve with a hot and sweet dipping sauce.

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Hot and Sweet Dipping sauce

Ingredients:
Asian Chili Paste
Soy sauce
sugar
water

Method:

Put the paste in a small dipping cup and add a dash of soy sauce. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and add enough water to the consistency you desire. Mix up and serve with mini tofu wontons.


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Since the soup didn't work out, my husband made burritos, a stand by meal for us. As long as we keep tortillas and refried black beans around, I know that we will have at least one meal covered.