I don't know why pork tacos wouldn't be savory, I just think it sounds nice. What really makes these tacos amazing is the salsa I invented, but I thought the rest of the taco was worth mentioning as well. I like to buy pork shoulders because they are very inexpensive and best made in the crock pot, one of my favorite appliances. This requires a little planning ahead, but the outcome is well worth it.
In to the crock pot put the following ingredients:
pork shoulder
enough beef broth to cover or almost cover the meat
quite a bit of:
salt
cumin
red pepper flakes
garlic powder
onion powder
ground coriander
dried oregano
Turn on the pot and go to work, or stay home and enjoy the smell of simmering meat all day.
When it comes time for dinner, heat the oven to about 375. Place 2 corn tortillas in a tinfoil pouch sealed on all ends (2 tortillas per person) and put in the oven to warm for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Make the salsa, which I'm naming Anna's Amazing Salsa (because it is really, really amazing):
Chop the following into small pieces (think salsa sized):
Red apple (Fuji, Gala or Honey Crisp would all be nice)
Tomato
Orange Bell Pepper (red, green or yellow would all work)
One Scallion
some Jalapeno
a pinch of salt
some lemon and lime juice
Toss together and try not to eat it all with tortilla chips before dinner.
To assemble the tacos, remove the tortillas from their pouches and top with some shredded pork, salsa and a little bit of sour cream. You can also add avocado or cheese or lettuce...whatever you like.
These tacos are great with a side of beans and rice.
Pork Tenderloin is one of the easiest meats to make. It's all about the marinade and cooking it to the perfect medium-rare temperature. Here is my go to recipe for pork tenderloin.
Place the tenderloin in a large zip lock bag with the following (as usual I don't measure anything):
soy sauce,
a little peanut oil,
fresh or dried ginger powder,
fresh or dried garlic powder,
onion powder,
as much Sriracha sauce as you like
Place this in the fridge all day so the marinade can really get in the pork. You can even do this a day or two ahead of time. If you're like me, you'll get the pork ready and then not want pork for dinner, so you leave it for the next night....then that next night rolls around and you still don't want pork but you force yourself to make it anyway. It's so delicious that you can't believe you ate pizza the night before, what were you thinking?!
Preheat oven to 425.
Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray. I have no idea if this is really a broiler pan or not, but it's the kind of deep dish pan with a rack that sits on top with holes in it. You put the pork tenderloin on this rack. Be sure to spray the rack when it's in place on the pan so that the bottom of the pan gets sprayed as well. Because the juices from the pork drip down onto this pan while cooking, they can easily burn on the bottom and you'll have a hell of a time scraping this junk off...so if you hit it with a little cooking spray, it makes your life a lot easier. Aaaaaanyway.... remove the pork from the marinade and place it on the rack while the oven is heating up. When ready, stick it in the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes. This is a great time to start some rice pilaf because they take about the same amount of time to cook. After 25 minutes, check the temperature with a thermometer. The temp should be about 135 - 140. I believe the correct temp for pork is 145 but in my opinion that is too done. Remove the pork (if ready) from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Let rest for at least 5 minutes! Don't even think about touching this pork before 5 minutes. Then slice into about 1/2 inch thick slices at a slight angle (for looks) and you should have perfect, juicy pork tenderloin.
I always like to serve this with rice pilaf and sauteed vegetables. I've been adding a dash of toasted sesame seeds to my veggies right before they are done cooking, it adds that extra little something that makes them better in some way.
I read somewhere that you should cook salmon at a lower temperature for a longer period of time because it helps to melt the fats, distributing them throughout the fish and creating a tender, juicy, delicious dinner. So I tried this, and it worked.
Preheat oven to 375.
Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Coat both sides (skin side and non-skin side) of a salmon fillet with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cajun seasoning if you have it. I have no idea what is in this cajun seasoning my dad whipped up, but I use it on everything to give just a little kick.
Place the salmon in the baking dish, skin side down. Top with a few dollops of butter and stick it in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until opaque. Be careful with this opaque business though. If you buy salmon that has been farm raised, it is going to be much more pink that wild salmon, because they put pink stuff in it to make it look..well...pink. So when you cook it it's going to retain that pink color, instead of wild salmon that becomes less pink when cooked because you can see the fat melt throughout the fish and it becomes opaque. I learned this lesson the hard way and totally over cooked some salmon one time that I didn't know was farm raised. Just to be on the safe side, and if you want to eat better salmon (or anything) buy the wild stuff. It's a little more expensive, but you want to put good stuff in your body, so buck up and pay for it.
When it's done I like to transfer the salmon to a cutting board and use a spatula to remove the skin before putting it on plates. Just insert the spatula between the skin and flesh and slide it right on through, it's really easy when the fish is cooked. It's a nightmare to remove the skin before the salmon is cooked.
Enjoy with a nice salad or sauteed veggies.
Ole!
Ingredients:
2 Tilapia Filets
Creole Seasoning
Limes
Shallot
Sour Cream
Chili Powder
Salt
4 Soft Corn Tortillas
Fresh Salsa (chopped onion, tomatoes, jalapeno and cilantro)
First, rub the tilapia fillets with the creole seasoning on both sides. Heat a little olive oil and butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the tilapia. Cook for a few minutes on each side until cooked through and slightly crispy on the edges.
While the fish is cooking, put some sour cream in a bowl. Add the zest and juice of half a lime, a pinch of salt, about a teaspoon of finely chopped shallot and as much chili powder as you'd like. Stir this into a nice sauce and set aside.
Heat the corn tortillas either in a non-stick pan or wrapped in tin foil in the oven. When the fish is done, divide the 2 fillets among the 4 warm tortillas. Squeeze a little more lime juice over the fish, top with the sour cream sauce and fresh salsa. Eat!
I like to serve these with refried beans and corn chips because it's delicious to scoop some beans onto the taco as you go. You can really jazz up a can of vegetarian refried beans by doing this: plop them out into a sauce pan, mix in about 2 tablespoons of green salsa, about 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 1 tablespoon of sour cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Serves 2....best recommended with a bottle of Pacifico garnished with a lime wedge.
I would like to preface this recipe with the fact that this is not necessarily a healthy dinner. Perhaps you could make a nice side salad or some sort of vegetable invention of your own, but I had a salad for lunch so I thought, what the hell, jalapenos and green chiles will have to suffice. Nutrition facts aside, these enchiladas were delicious! And I used up left over ground beef, which is a near miracle in this house.
I made 5 (8") enchiladas and had leftover rice and meat, so you could make a lot more with these amounts.
Ingredients:
* 1 lb ground beef (buy grass fed, always!)
* One package Taco Seasoning
* 1 box Spanish Rice
* 8" Corn Tortillas
* Grated Cheddar Cheese
* Low Fat Cream Cheese
* One can Red Enchilada Sauce
* One small can of diced Green Chiles
* Chopped jalepenos
Now Do This:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and coat a baking dish lightly with cooking spray.
Cook the ground beef in a pan until just browned. Add in the packet of taco seasoning and about 3/4 cup water, mix well and simmer for about 10 minutes. You could easily make your own taco seasoning with things like salt, crushed red pepper, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder... pretty much any of the spices you always have on hand that sounds kinda Mexicany. I like the packaged kinds that don't contain MSG.
While the beef is cooking, make the Spanish Rice according to the package directions. Again you could make your own using the same spices and whatever rice you like.
Lay out your corn tortillas and put a small amount of cream cheese in a line down the middle. I just used my fingers and pulled small dabs off a spoon. Then, also in a line down the middle (as with everything), put a small amount of the beef, rice, as much jalapeno as you like, and grated cheddar cheese. Roll the tortilla and put seam side down into the baking dish. Do this with as many tortillas as will fit in your dish, you can really squeeze them in there.
Pour the entire can of sauce over the top to completely cover the tortillas, then add the green chiles as evenly as possible. Top with a little more cheddar cheese and put in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted and the sauce is starting to bubble.
After devouring one of these enchiladas I remembered that I wanted to put a little sour cream on top but I was too full to go for seconds. The sour cream would be really nice because these are pretty spicy.
I'm too impatient for most things, but you could really make this entire meal from scratch, as opposed to packaged ingredients (maybe aside from the tortillas), and I bet it would be amazing. The only thing that might take longer would be making the enchilada sauce ahead of time.
I took this recipe from one of my many Cooking Light magazines I have archived awkwardly in a bookcase. Whenever I'm feeling completely uninspired I grab all the magazines I have from whatever season it is and see if I can find a good recipe. I found a recipe for a broccoli slaw salad with some sort of Asian dressing and boy was it delicious! Super flavorful and a great accompaniment to marinated chicken and roasted acorn squash (and now I'm painfully full).
You can use as much of the following as you like, depending on how many people you are serving and how much you like of each ingredient.
For the slaw, mix together the following in a large bowl:
*One large carrot, shredded with the veggie peeler so you end up with long strips of carrot.
*Broccoli with the crown chopped into small pieces, and the stem peeled and julienned.
*Sliced water chestnuts
*One scallion, chopped
*Cucumber thinly sliced (or celery would be good too...probably better)
*A little less than one package of ramen noodles, crushed. Throw that disgusting packet of preservatives away.
For the dressing:
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon Agave or Honey
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 Teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 Teaspoon ground ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed (or some garlic powder)
Mix all of these together with a whisk then slowly add 1/3 cup canola oil. Toss the dressing with the slaw then top with a few mandarin orange wedges.
The original recipe called for Napa Cabbage, sunflower seeds and toasted, sliced almonds, which would be delicious.
These recipes are really no-brainers, I mean seriously if you can't make these, then I'm ashamed for you, but I'll give you the recipes anyway, because this dinner was amazing!
Dinner tonight was Margherita Pizza, Spinach+Strawberry+Goat Cheese Salad, and Artichoke halves, vegetarian, cheesy, delicious!
First, cut an artichoke in half and cut off the stem. Place cut sides up in a steamer basket, cover and steam for about 20 minutes or until the artichokes are just tender when you poke them with a fork. You really don't want to over cook artichokes, they become mushy and really gross. But then again, you need to cook them enough so that they aren't tough and you strain your jaw trying to rip the flesh from the leaf. I like to make a side of melted butter for Jesse and a side of mayo and mustard mixed together for myself to dip these tasty little leaves in. Did you know artichokes are full of antioxidants and fiber? It's true. When these are done be sure to scrape the thistle out of the middle with a spoon, and get it all, this stuff is dangerous!
Once you've got the artichokes steamin', it's time for pizza. Spray a little cooking spray on a baking sheet and stretch your fresh pizza dough out (NEVER roll it) onto the baking sheet. I like to use my fists in the middle of the dough and stretch it from the middle first, then hang it from the sides and let gravity do all the work, making sure not to tear the dough. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil then cover with pizza sauce. When you spread around the sauce you'll spread around the olive oil. Julienne a bunch of basil and sprinkle over the entire pizza. Shred some fresh mozzarella and add as much as you want... I think a nice coating over the entire pizza is good, but you can add more or less. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden and the cheese is bubbly and blistering.
And on to the salad. Wash and chop a bunch of fresh spinach and drizzle with whatever salad dressing you like. Tonight I used a Citrus Poppyseed dressing that contained no oil. Arrange this onto plates so you can add the sliced strawberries and a few chunks of goat cheese on top and it will look pretty. I love a pretty salad.
I really should have taken a photo of this dinner, it was so satisfying. And I'm working on better portion control for Jesse and I, specifically trying to follow the rules and have half the plate filled with veggies and fruit, one fourth of the plate protein and one fourth grains. Tonight it was 3/4 of the plate was fruits and veggies, and 1/4 PIZZA!
