Vegan MoFo: Jackfruit Carnitas and Yam Fries

Happy First Day of October! This so happens to be my second favorite month of the year (the first being May for my birthday). October also marks the blogging "event" Vegan MoFo!  The goal of Vegan MoFo is to blog as often as you can during the month about any topic concerning vegan food, either posting every weekday, or at least 20 posts total. This is my third time participating in Vegan MoFo and I'm so excited to kick it off!

I've decided for MoFo number three that I'm going to attempt a theme for the majority of my posts. (I'll still post restaurant and product reviews, but most, if not all, food related posts will be related to my theme.)  I was recently looking at my bookshelf and magazine rack, and realized that I have stacks upon stacks of past issues of Bon Appetit that I've read through, but have done nothing else with. My goal is to put these magazines of subscription past to use and veganize Bon Appetit.

To start, I'm turning back the clock to April 2008 for a twist on Bon Appetit's Slow Cooked Carnitas.  This veganized version utilizes jackfruit  (a large, prickly fruit, most commonly from Thailand or India that is highly nutritious and absorbs flavors very well) in place of pork. I decided to serve it on a burger bun, paired with baked yam fries.

Slow Cooked Jackfruit Carnitas
Ingredients 
1 can jackfruit (make sure it is in water, not syrup)
spice rub of choice (I used chili powder, cumin, coriander, onion and garlic powder)
1/2 to 1 tsp salt (depending on how much sodium is in your salsa)
1/2 large red onion, rough chopped
6oz roasted tomatillo salsa (I used Trader Joe's brand Tomatillo and Roasted Yellow Chili)
2 T water
4 hamburger buns or rolls
toppings of choice (slaw, lettuce, avocado, vegan cheese, etc) 

Directions 
Drain and rinse jackfruit and squeeze out excess water with your hands. Coat well with spices and add jackfruit and remaining ingredients to a slow cooker (crock pot). Set on high for five hours.
When done cooking, scrape at jackfruit with a fork so it resembles a carnitas/pulled pork texture. Split jackfruit amongst the burger buns and cover with desired toppings.

Baked Yam Fries 
Ingredients
1 large yam, or 2 to 3 small ones
1 - 2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp chipotle powder (or other seasoning of choice)
1 - 2 T brown rice flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Cut yam fries into strips about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick and two to three inches in length. In a medium bowl, toss cut yams with olive oil and spices. You want the fries to be lightly coated, not drenched in oil. Toss with enough flour to lightly coat; the flour helps to make the fries crispy on the outside. Spread fries onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip each fry (carefully! don't get burned) and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until crispy on both sides. Don't open the oven while they bake, but do keep an eye on them (or a nose) to make sure they don't burn.