Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder
Shredded pork shoulder, served atop of sauteed cabbage.
Some of you already know this by now, but I don’t care for pork. I’m just not fond of the taste, unless it’s bacon. You may recall though, that on New Year’s Eve, I ordered a shredded pork dish for dinner. I mainly ordered it because it was the least complicated thing for me to paleoize, but also thought I might like it since I love shredded meat, specifically chicken and beef. Well, I did like it … a lot! Since then, I’ve been thinking about trying out a shredded pork recipe myself. This past weekend, it finally happened.
It was a spur of the moment decision and completely unplanned. I really value moments like that. Anyway, I was in Food Front Co-op in NW Portland after work on Sunday, and spotted one small and lonely pork shoulder roast. At that moment, I decided it was time, and threw it in my basket. For the recipe, I flew by the seat of my pants and used what I had on hand.
The recipe turned out phenomenal. It tasted so good, that I didn’t want the last bite to come. To compensate, I very slowly savored every last morsel. I usually do well with eating slowly, but I especially did well this time.
If you’re not much of a pork person, like me, this recipe may surprise you. I can’t wait to make it again.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb pork shoulder roast
- 2 tsp grass-fed ghee
- 3/4 tsp cumin
- 3/4 tsp chili powder
- 3/4 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 4 large carrots, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 head cabbage, chopped (use more if serving more than 2 people)
- Avocado slices, optional
Directions:
- Combine spices, sea salt and pepper, and coat all sides of the roast. If you have extra spice mixture leftover, set it aside. You will use it later. If you use it all, that’s fine too.
- Melt 1 tsp of ghee (or fat of choice) in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork shoulder, and brown a couple minutes on each side. Once all sides are browned, remove from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, melt the remaining 1 tsp of ghee (add more if needed) over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes, until softened. Once done, pour the mixture into the slow cooker.
- Add carrots to the slow cooker and place the roast on top of the veggies. Add the chicken broth, lime juice and any remaining spice mixture.
- Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 8-10.
- Once done, turn the slow cooker off or to warm. Then, remove the pork roast and cut off the twine. Shred meat with two forks and add back to the slow cooker. Give everything a stir.
- In a pan over medium heat, melt a little fat of choice. Add the chopped cabbage and season with sea salt and pepper. Saute about 5 minutes, or until softened.
- Serve the shredded pork mixture over the cabbage and serve with avocado slices, if desired.
Yields: 3-4 servings
Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon
Honey-lime glazed salmon with zucchini noodles.
Jesse and I rarely eat salmon, or fish in general for that matter. Don’t get me wrong, we like it, but fresh wild-caught fish is often pretty expensive. Halibut is my absolute favorite fish, but often one of the most expensive of the bunch. I’m not a fan of sea bugs (shrimp, scallops, crab, etc.) and am even pretty picky about the fish I do like. As you can probably guess, salmon is one type of fish that I do enjoy, at least most of the time (sometimes it doesn’t taste good to me — also depends how it’s prepared). I actually like the taste of lake salmon better than ocean salmon because it’s more mild, but we only have ocean salmon out here. If I want lake salmon, I’ve got to go home to Michigan. Anyway, coho salmon fillets were on sale at Whole Foods this past weekend, so Jesse and I decided to pick up a couple. I didn’t have any sort of recipe in mind, but then realized I had a fresh lime in my refrigerator, and that became my inspiration.
Ingredients:
- 2 fresh salmon fillets
- 1-2 Tbsp raw honey
- 1-2 Tbsp melted grass-fed butter
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 9×9 pan with foil or parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, honey, lime juice, sea salt and pepper.
- Place fish fillets skin side down in the pan. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and pepper.
- Spoon glaze over the fillets, covering completely.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until fish is cooked through.
Serve with vegetable of your choosing. We ate our fish with warm zucchini noodles drizzled with sea salt and avocado oil. It’d be great served over a bed of steamed or sautéed kale as well.
