This is a supremely low-effort, high-yield dish. It’s a nutritional tour-de-force, and very pleasing to the tastebuds too. We use flageolet beans in this recipe; they are small immature kidney beans. If they’re not available, using kidney beans or really any other legume is fine.

You will need

• 2 large zucchini, sliced
• 2 red peppers, sliced
• 1 large eggplant, sliced and cut into semicircles
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 cans flageolet beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups same, cooked, drained, and rinsed)
• ½ bulb garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp black pepper, coarse ground
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp red chili pepper flakes (omit or adjust per your heat preferences)
• ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
• Mixed herbs, per your preference. It’s hard to go wrong with this one, but we suggest leaning towards either basil and oregano or rosemary and thyme. We also suggest having some finely chopped to go into the dish, and some held back to go on the dish as a garnish.

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 180℃.

2) Mix all the ingredients (except the tomatoes and herbs) in a big mixing bowl, ensuring even distribution.

2) Add the tomatoes. The reason we didn’t add these before is because it would interfere with the oil being distributed evenly across the vegetables.

3) Transfer to a deep-walled oven tray or an ovenproof dish, and roast for 30 minutes.

4) Stir, add the chopped herbs, stir again, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.

5) Serve (hot or cold), adding any herb garnish you wish to use.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Lycopene’s Benefits For The Gut, Heart, Brain, & More
• Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)
• Capsaicin For Weight Loss And Against Inflammation
• The Many Health Benefits Of Garlic
• Black Pepper’s Impressive Anti-Cancer Arsenal (And More)

Take care!

All the taste and experience of pulled pork, without the increased risk of cancer and metabolic disease. On the contrary, jackfruit introduces lots of fiber, vitamins, carotenoids, and flavanones. We’ll have to do a main feature about jackfruit sometime; it’s an unusual fruit especially for its protein content, but for now, let’s get cooking!

You will need

• 1 can (14oz/400g) green jackfruit, drained (the flesh will not, in fact, be green—this is referring to the fruit being unripe and thus still firm in texture, which is what we want. The outside of the fruit, which will not be in the can, will have been green)
• 1/4 red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 carrot, grated
• 6 mangetout, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise (your preference what kind, and yes, vegan is fine too)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp gochujang paste (if you can’t find gochujang paste locally, you can either order it online (here it is on Amazon) or substitute with harissa paste, which is not the same—it uses different spices—but will do the same job here re texture, umami taste, and level of spiciness)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 3½ fl oz water
• 2 burger buns (unless you make them yourself, burger buns will probably not be healthy; you can, however, also look for small round wholemeal breads—the name of which varies far too much by region for us to try to get a catch-all name here—and use them in place of burger buns)

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Combine the garlic paste, ginger paste, tomato paste, gochujang paste, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and chili flakes in a saucepan

2) Boil the 3½ fl oz water we mentioned; add it to the saucepan, mixing well, turn on the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes or until it is thick and sticky (it will thicken more as it cools, too, so don’t worry if it doesn’t seem thick enough yet). Set it aside.

3) Dry the jackfruit (using strong kitchen paper should be fine), add the olive oil to a skillet and bring it to a high heat; add the jackfruit and fry on both sides for a few minutes, until it looks cooked (remember, while this may look like animal meat, it’s not, so there’s no danger of undercooking here).

4) When the jackfruit looks a nice golden-brown, add two thirds of the sauce from the saucepan, and break apart the jackfruit a bit (this can be done with a wooden/bamboo spatula, so as to not damage your pan), When it all looks how you’d expect pulled jackfruit (or pulled pork) to look, take it off the heat.

5) Combine the carrot, cabbage, and mangetout in a small bowl, adding the apple cider vinegar and mixing well; this will be the coleslaw element

6) Mix the remaining sauce with the mayonnaise

7) (optional) toast the burger buns

8) Assemble the burgers; we recommend the following order: bottom bun, pulled jackfruit, coleslaw, gochujang mayo, top bun

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Level-Up Your Fiber Intake, The Fun Way!
• 10 Ways To Balance Blood Sugars
• Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?

Take care!