Tag Archives: Pork

Pork and Sweet Potato Hash

Posted on by

Pork and Sweet Potato Hash

Happy Independence Day! I’m so excited for this long weekend! What are your holiday plans? Barbecuing, swimming, biking or watching fireworks displays? I’m hoping to partake in a bit of everything this weekend. San Antonio has several July Fourth festivities going on all over the city, I just hope the rain doesn’t ruin them!

Pork and Sweet Potato

If you plan on escaping the heat this weekend and forgoing the barbecue pit, try my super simple Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas. The best part of making these carnitas is that there’s always leftovers for breakfast! Pork and sweet potatoes are wonderful together. Add a bit of onions and top it with an egg and you have a delicious, beautiful meal.

Pork and Sweet Potato Hash
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
3/4 cup leftover slow cooked pork
1 large sweet potato, diced
1/4 of a sweet onion, chopped
2 tbsp EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Sunny-side up eggs and scallions for garnish

Instructions:
1. Add EVOO to a pan and turn on heat to medium-high.
2. Carefully add sweet potatoes and onions to the pan. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes, until potatoes are cooked.
3. Stir in pork and cook for 2 minutes until pork is heated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve with a sunny-side up egg and scallions.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Advertisement

Oven Baked St. Louis Style Ribs

Posted on by

Oven Baked St. Louis Ribs

I can’t believe we’re already in June and Father’s Day and Fourth of July are just around the corner! I’m so excited to share the perfect ribs recipe for any summer holiday. I must admit, this is my husband’s recipe for ribs and I absolutely love it when he makes them. These fall off the bone ribs are so juicy and tender with the perfect amount of sweet and spicy flavors, there is no need for bbq sauce. These ribs will fool anyone into thinking you spent hours marinating the meat and barbecuing outside on the grill. We like to eat ours with a side of baked sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli, salad or coleslaw. Enjoy!!

Oven Baked St. Louis Style Ribs
Makes about 8 servings

Ingredients:
Rack of St. Louis style pork ribs (about 4 lbs)
4 tbsp organic coconut sugar
4 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 tbsp sea salt

Ribs seasoning mixture

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with 2 pieces of foil (shiny side facing up).
2. Peel off the tough membrane that is on the bony side of the ribs.
3. Combine sugar, pepper and salt in a bowl. Apply seasoning mixture to each side of the ribs.
4. Lay ribs meat side down on foil lined baking sheet and cover completely with 2 pieces of foil (shiny side facing down). Crimp the edges of the foil tightly around the ribs.
5. Place in oven and cook for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and turn oven setting to broil.
7. Remove foil and ribs from baking sheet and cut ribs into your desired serving size (about 2 ribs per serving).
8. Line baking sheet with a clean piece of foil and transfer the ribs back to the baking sheet.
9. Broil in oven for 3 minutes. Remove ribs from oven, carefully turn them over and repeat on other side. Ribs should be slightly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside when done.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Pork Chops and Zucchini in Salsa Verde

Pork Chops and Zucchini in Salsa Verde
Please excuse this crappy picture. I took a couple of really quick pictures because I couldn’t wait to eat.

I think pork and zucchini are so great together, especially with salsa. I thought this salsa verde was pretty spicy, but my husband said it was not spicy at all. You be the judge. 😉 Either way, we both thought it was delicious. Speaking of delicious things, I tried a new Mexican seafood restaurant this weekend. Twice. I also had menudo, corn chips, french fries, bbq and mango shaved ice. I think I had a little too much deliciousness this weekend and I’m paying for it today, feeling very sluggish and grumpy. I barely made it through my cycle and core class this afternoon. Here’s to a week of eating strict paleo and sticking to a strict workout routine!

Pork Chops and Zucchini in Salsa Verde
Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:
4 pork chops
3 Mexican zucchinis, sliced
4 tomatillos
1/4 small onion
2 jalapenos, sliced open and seeded
3 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp EVOO
4 cups water

Directions:
1. Add water, tomatillos, onion, jalapenos and garlic to a saucepan and boil on high for 20 minutes. Turn heat off and put tomatillos, onion, jalapenos and garlic in a blender along with oregano, cilantro, 1/4 tsp salt and 2 cups of the liquid used for boiling and purée. Set aside salsa purée.
2. Heat cast iron over medium heat and add 1 tblsp of EVOO. Season pork chops with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper and place in skillet. Cook each side for 8 minutes and remove chops to a plate.
3. Add 1 tblsp EVOO and zucchini to skillet and sauté for 4 minutes.
4. Add pork chops back to skillet and pour salsa verde over zucchini and chops. Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving to allow sauce to thicken.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas Lettuce Wrap Tacos

Lettuce wrap pork carnitas tacos
Whoa, that title is certainly a mouthful! Couldn’t think of an easier way to describe these simple, but delicious tacos. I love throwing food in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a delicious meal. I don’t mind cooking dinner every night, but it can be hard with my work schedule and my husband’s busy school schedule. During the week, I only get to spend a couple of hours a day, at most, with my husband and usually weekends are spent running errands and more school work for him, so if I can spend less time in the kitchen, I try. In less than three months, our lives will be much easier when he finally receives that master of architecture degree! Woohoo!

Now, onto these carnitas. I usually make carnitas with pork shoulder, but pork loin roast was on sale so I decided to try it and it came out just as great. My husband loves crispy carnitas so after they’ve been slow cooked, he likes to toss them in a little EVOO in a pan to get them extra crispy. They are delicious right out of the slow cooker though, so choose which one you prefer.

Slow cooked pork carnitas

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless pork loin roast
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Leaves of romaine lettuce
Cilantro
Tomato
Avocado Slices

Directions:
1. In a slow cooker, place a tblsp of EVOO and half of the onions and garlic.
2. Season the pork with salt and pepper and place in the slow cooker. Add the remaining onions and garlic on top of the pork, along with another tblsp of EVOO.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Roughly shred the pork with a knife and fork and mix it with all the onions, garlic and juice from the bottom of the cooker.
4. For crispy carnitas, throw some of the shredded pork into a pan with a tblsp of EVOO and toss around on medium to high heat for about 5 minutes until most of the carnitas get crispy. You don’t want to overcook them or they’ll become dry.
5. Place leaves of lettuce on a plate and add a generous amount of carnitas on each leaf and top with cilantro, tomato and avocado slices.

Try these tacos with your favorite salsa or my paleo avocado cilantro crema, it’s divine!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Chorizo and Green Pepper Frittata

DSC_0036
I love breakfast. I also love not having to cook breakfast every morning, especially on the days I’m running late for work or want to sleep in a bit longer. Frittatas are the perfect thing to make on a Sunday and have for the whole week. This frittata was made with random ingredients in my refrigerator and came out awesome! I used my new cast iron skillet I got for Christmas and it was such an easy transition from the stovetop to the oven.

Ingredients
10 pastured eggs
8 ounces of pork chorizo (casing off)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced (seeds removed)
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk the eggs and add in the salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a large cast iron skillet, cook the chorizo for about 2 minutes on medium heat until it is nice and crumbly.
4. Throw in the onions and cook for another 2 minutes or until onions start to become translucent.
5. Stir in the bell pepper and 1/2 cup cilantro and cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Pour the eggs into the skillet and turn the heat off.
7. Add diced tomato on top and the rest of the cilantro.
8. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from oven to cool.

Once frittata is cooled, cut slices right out of the skillet or use a spatula and move to a large plate and slice. I keep mine in the fridge for a week for a delicious breakfast every morning. Enjoy!

PRINTABLE RECIPE