Crockpot Pork Tacos

If your idea of Mexican food is based on the dollar menu at Taco Bell, you are in for a treat!  Authentic Mexican food is easy to make at home and is quite healthy for you.  This Monday was Cinco de Mayo, so I made these Crockpot Pork Tacos, and they were muy delicioso!

In Mexico, and in authentic Mexican restaurants here in California, there is no shredded lettuce or cheddar cheese.  Tacos are simple and small and are often eaten on-the-go, so they’re not all covered in sauces or messy vegetables.  Chopped onions and cilantro are usually the only thing you’ll see, with a squeeze of lime.  I added avocado to mine because it pairs great with the pork.  It’s a traditional accompaniment to tacos and adds a creamy note to balance out the sharpness of the raw onions.

As far as the pork goes, I usually use a big shoulder roast, but you can use whatever pork roast you like.  The seasoning is simple here, but you can spice it up as much as you want.  Try adding a can of chipotles in adobo sauce for a smoky flavor, or a jar of salsa verde to the crockpot.

Finally, tacos are kind of like sandwiches.  You can make a thousand different kinds of sandwiches and all are tasty.  But if you only ever eat a turkey sandwich, you may never know how much you’d love a Reuben.  So:  if taco night at your house always means ground beef and diced tomatoes, you owe it to yourself to try something new.  Ready?  Vamanos!

Crockpot Pork Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1 large pork roast, 2 or 3 pounds
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 or 2 avocados, sliced or diced
• corn tortillas
• lime or lemon wedges, to serve

Directions:

1. Combine the salt, garlic powder, and cumin, and rub all over the outside of the pork roast.  Place in your crockpot and cook for 8 hours on low.  When done, the pork should pull apart easily.
2. Warm up your tortillas:  I wrap a few tortillas in a clean, damp dish towel and microwave for 20 seconds.  If you try to use them cold, they’ll crack!
3. Shred your pork with two forks, or chop roughly.  To serve, put about 1/3 cup of shredded pork in the center of a tortilla.  Sprinkle with cilantro, onion, and avocado.  Squeeze lime over taco.  Eat several.  Don’t wipe your hands on your pants!

If you have leftovers, and I always do, I usually skip the tortilla and just eat the pork, reheated in the microwave, covered in cilantro, onions, and avocado.  Skip the carbs, and squeeze lots of lime!

Zucchini Lasagna

This recipe came about, as many do, in my house:  I start with an ingredient and brainstorm what in the world I’m going to do with it.  I had a bag of summer squash from the farmer’s market – it was so inexpensive, I couldn’t pass it up.  But aside from making zucchini bread, I couldn’t think of how to use it.  That was when I stumbled upon a recipe for Homemade Ricotta, and it came to me:  Zucchini Lasagna!

The zucchini stands in for traditional noodles in this recipe, so if you are following a low-carb diet, or if you are avoiding gluten, you’re in luck!  If you are making ricotta, drain and squeeze it to keep any extra liquid out of the casserole.  Nobody likes a soggy lasagna!  Feel free to saute and add other veggies or herbs to the lasagna, too – baby spinach, bell peppers, black olives, or fresh basil would all be lovely!

This is a small casserole, so we ate it with a big salad for dinner.  You can easily double or quadruple this recipe to serve more people.  Hope you like it!

Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 zucchinis or other summer squash, about 3/4 pound
• cooking spray
• 1/2 pound sausage
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained (I used fire-roasted canned tomatoes)
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs, or oregano
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup Homemade Ricotta, or store-bought
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Chop the zucchini into thin coins – about 1/8″-thick.  Lay out on the baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes.  They don’t need to be cooked through at all – you just want to dry them out a little bit.  Remember, no one likes a soggy lasagna!
2. While the zucchini is drying out, dice the onion, and mince the clove of garlic.  In a large pan, brown the sausage with the onion and garlic.  Drain any fat that accumulates.  Add in the drained tomatoes, oregano, and salt and pepper, and heat through.
3. In a casserole dish, spray a little cooking spray so nothing sticks.  Layer half the zucchini slices to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.  Spread half the ricotta over the zucchini, then spread half the sausage mixture over the ricotta.  Repeat with the rest of the zucchini, then ricotta, then sausage.  Cover with the shredded mozzarella.
4. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil, and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove lid and bake for another ten minutes, until the cheese is golden and melty.

Pork Katsu

From Japanese bento boxes to Hawaiian plate lunches, pork katsu is a crispy and delicious dish.  The ingredients list is short, the preparation is easy, and it's a real people-pleaser!  Check out my post at Girlfriends Coffee Hour this week for the recipe.  Arigato, Aloha, let's eat!

Bacon-Wrapped Lit'l Smokies

Meat Candy!

File this under:  junk food.  But you know what?  Sometimes you want what you want, and you just have to vow to eat only broccoli for the next two days, and just go with it.

My husband and I were going to a church function for married couples this weekend and we were to bring an appetizer for 4-6 people.  I knew immediately I wanted to make these.  I could see it now:  two kinds of hummus, chips and salsa, a veggie tray with ranch dressing ... necessary, but boring.  I wanted to bring the pizzazz!  And I did - these little wienies were the first to disappear!

Bacon-Wrapped Lit'l Smokies

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bacon
• 1 package Lit'l Smokies
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Not health food.  Not even close.  But SOOOO good.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 F.  Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with foil (makes for a much easier clean up.)
2. Cut each slice of bacon into thirds.  Wrap a Lit'l Smokie in bacon, and place seam-side down in the tray.  The package I had made 33 of these, so you'll need about 11 pieces of bacon.  When all the Lit'l Smokies are wrapped in bacon, sprinkle heavily with brown sugar.
3. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the sugar is bubbling and melty.

I then poked each one with a toothpick.  If it's just you and the family going at these guys, you can use forks, but for a potluck, keep it simple and use the picks.  These are like crunchy, smoky, sweet, salty, meaty candy.  I cannot overstate how fantastic these are!

Oven-Roasted Pork Chops with Lemon-Caper Sauce

Where others have a sweet tooth, I have a sour tooth. I've been known to use only vinegar, and skip the oil, when dressing my salad. I eat cornichons like other people eat bon bons. So when I saw this recipe for pork chops in a lemon caper sauce, I knew I was going to like it.

Using a recipe from my "Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook", I skipped the step of brining my pork chops, mostly because I didn't read the recipe far enough in advance to do it before dinner. They came out fine without it, and were very juicy. These were easy, quick, and nearly fool-proof. They were tart and tangy (but not puckery, so if you are not a sour-lover like me, you won't be put off.)

Oven-Roasted Pork Chops with Lemon-Caper Sauce

(adapted from The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup juice from 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat, and brown the pork chops on one side, for about 2 minutes. Flip and brown the other side, another 2 minutes.
2. Transfer the chops to a foil-lined baking sheet, or large, wide baking dish (so they aren't crowded or touching each other.) Roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 140 to 145 degrees on a thermometer, about 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking time. Remove from the oven, place on a platter, and cover with aluminum foil. Let them rest for about 5 minutes, and check to make sure the internal temperature has reached 150 degrees.
3. While the chops are in the oven, add the shallot to the skillet you cooked the pork chops in, and cook over medium heat until softened, about 30 seconds.
4. Increase the heat and add the broth, stirring to scrape up any bits stuck to the pan. Add the lemon juice and capers and cook until the sauce reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes.
5. Off the heat, whisk in the butter, and pour over the pork chops.