Carnitas

Happy Saturday everyone!  Not too much to report today, just being lazy.  We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning.  It may still be fall, but winter is in the air.  I'm kind of hoping for a white Thanksgiving.  Hope everyone is doing something fun today, whatever your kind of Saturday fun might be!

Carnitas
What you'll need:
2-3 pounds pork loin, butt or shoulder (I had loins, you would usually use something more fatty)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 divided teaspoon salt
2 divided teaspoon cumin
2 divided teaspoon chili powder
shredded lettuce
corn tortillas
cilantro
lime wedges


Place everything into slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.  Remove from cooker and let rest for about 30-60 minutes to cool enough to handle.  Shred and break up into large chunks.  Place shredded meat on to a foil lined cookie sheet. Preheat broiler.  Place meat under broiler and broil until tops begin to get crispy and slightly dried.  Around 10-15 minutes.  Be sure to watch it!


Avocado sauce (if desired)
1 avocado
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
few dashed green hot sauce


Place in food processor and blend until smooth.


Now make yourself some mexican rice to go with the awesome tacos you are about to love.  Pile some meat and lettuce, some cilantro and a squeeze of lime, top it all over with a little avocado sauce and eat eat eat!

 

 

This is one way that you can make carnitas.  Kind of the quick and easy way, set it and forget it method.  I plan on trying this recipe again, handing the initial cooking of the pork differently.  Plus, the loin just didn't have quite enough fat in it.  This will be a to be continued...Enjoy!

Avocado Potato Salad

Ok, so I said I wasn't done with this whole avocado dressing thing.  I was skimming through some recipes on tastespotting last night and was inspired.  Someone had made a sort of mexican themed potato salad, but their dressing was weird and all wrong.  Actually the whole salad seemed a little off, but it was just enough to spark my creative mind, which in turn became this...

What you'll need:

2 pounds red potatoes
1 cup diced red pepper
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup cotija cheese

Dressing
2 medium avocados
1/2 of lime juice
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon green tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pickled jalapeno juice (or just pickle juice.  if you skip the tabasco, use three)
1 tablespoon water

Boil potatoes until fork tender.  Set aside and allow to cool.  Once cooled, dice into small pieces and add to large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients.  In your food processor or blender add all dressing ingredients and blend until smooth.  If after a few minutes it still seems too think, add another tablespoon of water.  Once smooth, pour over salad and gently mix until everything is nice and coated.  Chill for an hour or eat when its still a little warm, either way, you will be in love.

So this is Avocado dressing #2.  Still not done experimenting with this.  I'm wondering if this whole idea can completely substitute mayonnaise permanently?  Too bad avocados are so expensive, especially in the winter.  Maybe I need to move to Yuma.

Hope all of you have some fun plans for the weekend.  I have about 15 different projects to either start or finish, time is ticking and the days are FLYING by.  I can't wait to take pictures of all the hand made wedding creations, and share them all.  I'm so excited! =)  Happy weekend! Enjoy!

Tuna* Pasta Salad with Avocado Dressing

*Because this is the last jar of home canned tuna, this recipe is dedicated to my dad. Because he is out, and now we are too.

This is such a basic dish.  Who hasn't had only pasta, tuna, and some sort of cream soup in the cupboard, and thrown together tuna noodle casserole.  When I was ages 16 through 20 I worked at a little home daycare, and I'm pretty sure I ate the left overs from the kid's tuna noodle at least once a week.  I don't think I've had it since.  So a tuna salad sounded good last night, brought on by my dad talking about his lack of tuna all weekend. I read somewhere yesterday about substituting mayo or yogurt in salad dressings for pureed avocado.  I was so intrigued that I had to think of something to try it with.  So here goes...

What you'll need:
4 cups pasta (use your favorite)
2 cans tuna (1 jar home canned, if possible)
1 cup diced cucumber
1 cup frozen peas (not defrosted)
1 cup cheese cubed (I used sharp cheddar)
1/4 cup fresh basil sliced thin
1 cup diced tomato (cherry tomatoes halved would be best)

Dressing:
1 avocado
1/2 of a lime juice
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons pasta water (reserved from the cooked pasta)

Cook pasta with about a teaspoon salt in the water.  Once desired doneness, reserve at least 2 tablespoons of the starchy water for the dressing and run pasta under cold water. Once pasta is cool, add all salad ingredients into a large bowl.  In a blender or food processor add all dressing ingredients and blend until smooth.  Pour over salad and fold until everything is coated.  Be gentle to try and not break up the tuna chunks too much.

I'm thinking I might be experimenting further with the avocado dressing thing.  You don't get a lot of avocado flavor, but there is something really tasty and creamy going on there.  Yep, your definitely going to see that a few more times.  I think I might add a diced avocado to the salad next time to get a little more of the avocado flavor involved, but not totally necessary.  Enjoy!

Cucumber Shrimp Salad

So looking back on my more recent posts, apparently I am in salad mode.  They are all salads.  Hey, its summer right?  I was in the mood for something light and refreshing, and we bought a 3 pack of cucumbers from Costco the other day so I thought a cucumber salad would do just the trick.  Add some shrimp and a nice lime and cilantro dressing, and I was on my way to salad bliss.  


Kam, Dex and I went for a family jog last night.  It was really nice.  I have taken a few weeks off from jogging because of my mysterious back injury.  But things are looking up.  I know Dex was stoked to be running free in a large field.  And bonus, just when we finished our jog and he was super tuckered out, the sprinklers kicked on and he got a nice cool off by heading face first into the sprinkler jet.  Planning on going again tonight after it cools off outside.


What you'll need:
1 pound shrimp
1 english cucumber halved and sliced thin
1 avocado sliced
1/2 red pepper sliced thin
2-3 cups cherry tomatoes halved
1/4 cup green onion chopped
1 cup carrot grated or Julienned


Dressing:
Juice from 1 lime
1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1-3 teaspoons green tabasco (Use 3 if you like it spicy, or skip this ingredient if you don't)

1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon soy sauce


Add all dressing ingredients into a small bowl and mix until honey is dissolved.  Set aside.  Cook shrimp (if not precooked).  Bring a pot of water to a boil and dump in shrimp shells and tails on. About the time the water returns to a boil, shrimp will be done.  Pour into a colander and run under cold water until cooled.  Remove shells and tails.  Add all salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss with dressing.  Serve immediately. 

Pretty simple, but oh so good.  I have to admit, I had two bowls. Enjoy!