vegan carnitas

after we got back to denmark, i was in the mood for some wholesome food to balance out all the sushi and meat we'd been eating in california. good thing i had a vegan dinner planned in advance with some friends! even though i had scheduled it the day after our arrival, i never felt stressed during the prep; the dinner came together so easily! i soaked the beans before i went to bed and threw them in the slow cooker in the morning. i added bay leaves, a handful of peeled garlic cloves, a small onion cut into quarters, cumin and coriander seeds. when i got home from work, it was finished! i made the rice and coarsely chopped some cabbage and carrots while the 'carnitas' cooked.

jackfruit carnitas
adapted from clean green simple
serves 2 hungry people as taco filling

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can young green jackfruit (around 550g)
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle chile, minced
1 tsp of adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more, depending how spicy you like it)
1/8 tsp cayenne powder (ditto)
1 tsp mexican oregano
1 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup vegetable stock
juice of half a lime
pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper

heat the oil in a pan. add the onions and jackfruit and saute until the onions soften. add the garlic and stir it for about 30 seconds. turn off the heat and dump the jackfruit mix into the slow-cooker. add the rest of the ingredients and cook on high for an hour. mash it up a bit or pull the pieces apart with forks about halfway through. if you like it a bit saucy, it's ready! if you prefer the ends crunchy, dump the contents back into the pan (hope you didn't wash it already) and saute until most of the sauce has dried up. serve on corn tortillas warmed in the oven and enjoy!

sugar and gluten were omitted from the jackfruit, as i had to take my guests' dietary considerations into account. everyone seemed to enjoy their tacos, with the green and red salsas and 7 bottles of hot sauce i laid out... muahaha! this dinner was totally worth lugging that big bag of corn tortillas in my carry-on luggage! omg, my bag was so heavy with goodies... it's a miracle i was able to get both pieces of luggage up the steps into our apartment! of course i was too stubborn to ask my husband's help this time, as he always complains that i am stuffing too many things into the kitchen.

request plea to green grocers in denmark: stock decent corn tortillas! or even masa harina! PLEASE. ;_;