Flavorful hearty dishes just gives us big cheesy smiles of giddiness, and this Cajun Jackfruit and Collard Greens is just that kinda dish!  Bursting with flavor, delicious collard greens and jackfruit are simmered to perfect in aromatic spices, sweet peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, and hearty kidney beans for a nourishing dish that is sure to put a smile on your face. Serve this tasty dish over quinoa or brown rice with a dash hot sauce, a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of apple cider vinegar, for ultimate yumminess!

Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.

Ameera here!

I love me some collards!  We are a collard greens loving family.  Everyone in our house gets super excited over them.  The best part is that they just keep getting better and better in the fridge as the flavor develops.

Yay, Jackfruit!

Have you tried them yet?  If you haven’t, then this is an excellent recipe to test drive them with.  Seriously! Think of them as a blank slate. They take on whatever deliciousness you cook them in. The texture is somewhat like “shredded beef.”  It takes a few seconds for your mind to process the texture, then just like anything new, your brain will process it and we think that you will find as delicious as we do!

Young Green is the Key!

Make sure you select young (green) jackfruit packed in water or brine, not syrup.  We purchased canned jackfruit at our local Earth Fare, but you can also purchase jackfruit from Amazon.  We bought a 14 oz. can of Native Forest Organic Young Jackfruit.

This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.

Spice Superpowers!

Don’t ever let an impressive list of spices divert you from making any dish. I know I’ve said this a million times before, but if you are Whole Food Plant Based, then you probably already know that you will need a lot of spices to help boost flavor. Oil traditionally is a flavor carrier, so not using oil, you will find you need to ramp up the spices to get that deliciousness to shine.

I’ll let Mom tell you more.

Hi! Robin here!

I will never forget the first time I tried jackfruit. We were at Fresh Thyme and they had these HUGE alien birthing pods on display in the fruit/vegetable section. I was like “OMG, alien pods, just like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie!”

These jackfruits were enormous and looked utterly ridiculous. I was completely unfamiliar with them, but Monkey knew right away what they were.  A small group of onlookers had gathered to gawk at them, so obviously I wasn’t the only one unfamiliar with them.

Of course, we had to buy one, and dang it was quite expensive, but Monkey was all about it, so we lugged that sucker home and cracked it open.

At that time, we were new to the Whole Food Plant Based game, so we decided to cook it.  OMG, it took forever to remove the fruit, super sticky, then we boiled it. God knows what we were thinking back then to boil a whole ripe jackfruit for hours on end.  The whole house smelled like a rotten skunk.  We have since learned better. LOL

Hindsight, the ripe jackfruit would have delicious eaten fresh, as it has a sweet fruity flavor. It’s really hard to find unripe green jackfruit in the store, so trust me, just buy the canned young GREEN jackfruit, it tastes amazing in this recipe. TP109 ate it all up and went back for seconds and thirds.

We would love for you to give this recipe a try!

If you try it, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us!

Products Used:

• Ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven, nonstick deep skillet, or similar large stock pot with a tight-fitting lid

Cajun Jackfruit and Collard Greens

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• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 40 Minute
• Total Time: 55 Mintues
• Yield: 6 Servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Cuisine: Cajun

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Description

Flavorful hearty dishes just gives us big cheesy smiles of giddiness, and this Cajun Jackfruit and Collard Greens is just that kinda dish!  Bursting with flavor, delicious collard greens and jackfruit are simmered to perfect in aromatic spices, sweet peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, and hearty kidney beans for a nourishing dish that is sure to put a smile on your face. Serve this tasty dish over quinoa or brown rice with a dash hot sauce, a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of apple cider vinegar, for ultimate yumminess!

Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 – [ 14 oz. can (or up to 20 oz. can)] young green jackfruit, drained & rinsed *(See notes)
• 1 medium red onion, small dice
• 1 green bell pepper, small dice
• 2 celery ribs, small dice
• ½ cup grated carrot
• 2 Tablespoons garlic, finely minced
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 – [ 14 oz. can ] fire roasted petite diced tomatoes *
• 1 cup water (or vegetable broth)
• 1 cup vegetable broth*
• 1 Tablespoon tamari *
• 1 Tablespoon miso *
• 4 cups collard greens, cut into 1 ½ inch squares *
• 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Seasonings/Spices:

• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 Tablespoon dried minced onion flakes
• ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (+/-)*
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Other Optional Ingredients:

• Cooked Quinoa
• Cooked Rice (We used brown rice)
• Chopped Parsley
• Hot Sauce
• Squeeze of Lemon
• Drizzle of Apple Cider Vinegar

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Instructions

1. Drain and rinse the jackfruit (be sure to pull out as much moisture as possible), break open the chunks of jackfruit pieces into smaller shreds. Remove any hard edges, place on a plate and pat dry. Set aside.
2. Measure out all your spices into a small bowl, mix well.  Set aside.
3. In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven, nonstick skillet or similar stock pot, add the red onion, grated carrot, celery, and green bell pepper; sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water or broth if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
4. Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, add the tomato paste and dry spices (sweet paprika, smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, dried minced onion flakes, black pepper, dill weed, bay leaf, and sea salt), sauté to release their fragrance, about 30 seconds to one minute.
5. Then add the fire roasted petite diced tomatoes, veggie broth, tamari, miso, and water, bring to boil, then immediately lower to a simmer.
6. Add the jackfruit. Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients, pushing the jackfruit down into the mixture to ensure they are covered by liquid, then cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the collards and kidney beans and cook for another 15 minutes.
7. After 15 minutes (30 minutes total), test the flavors, add the cayenne pepper and red pepper flake, add more spices, if necessary, to achieve the level of flavor you desire. Remove the bay leaf and discard.  Cook for a few minutes, then serve.
8. Serve immediately over rice or quinoa with chopped fresh parsley, hot sauce, a squeeze of lemon or apple cider vinegar, if desired.

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Notes

*Collards:  If you like collards really tender, add them at the same time you add the jackfruit.

*Young Green Jackfruit:  Make sure you select young (green) jackfruit packed in water or brine, not syrup.  We used a 14 oz. can of Native Forest Organic Young Jackfruit. You can use up to a 20 oz. can for this recipe.

*Vegetable Stock:   We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.  If using a brand other than Pacific that has a mild/mellow flavor, you may wish to use 1 ½ cups broth and ½ cup water.  Also, if you like more liquid, add a bit more broth or water at the end.

*Fire Roasted Petite Diced Tomatoes:  If you can’t find fire roasted, you can substitute for regular Petite Diced Tomatoes.

*Tamari: We usedSan J Tamari Soy Sauce Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium.

*Cayenne Pepper:  We used ¼ +1/8 teaspoon for this recipe.  We like heat.  If you are concerned about heat, start low (1/8 tsp) and taste test at the end.  You can ramp up the heat with more cayenne pepper or use hot sauce on individual servings.

*Miso:  We used Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free.  Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil.  If you are going to live the Whole Food Plant Based lifestyle, then you will quickly find that miso is your friend.  Miso is simply a paste made from fermented soybeans, barley or rice malt. We use a gluten-free mellow white miso. It is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, and most grocery or health food stores carry it these days. You can find it in the refrigerator section.  A lot of Vegans and Whole Food Plant Basers call it “the secret weapon” because it really brings that rich umami flavor forward in a lot of dishes.  Since we discovered it, we use it a lot.  Simply because it really adds something special to our dishes that you just can’t get with other ingredients.  It has a long refrigerator shelf life because it is fermented.  So, if you can’t find it locally, we suggest that when you are taking any trips out of town, find a store that carries it, take a small ice chest and stock up.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Makes:  6 servings

*Storage:  Refrigerate, use within 7 days.

This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.