Taco Tuesday: Grain Belt Pulled Pork Tacos + Minnesota Sweet Corn & Coconut Salad
Tuesday rolled around again and so did my desire for tacos. It's funny how that works out. I wanted to make something completely different than last week's Taco Tuesday and also had a couple ears of corn leftover from the weekend that I figured I could use, too. Since it's been so warm, the slow cooker seemed like a good option to avoid heating up the kitchen, and gave me an excuse to rescue it from my car, where it's been situated for the past few weeks since our move. Baby steps.
I can't take credit for this delightful corn salad—the recipe is from 101 Cookbooks, though I modified it slightly. I'll post my version below, but here is the link to the original. It was so good, I could probably eat it every day. Or at least every day there is fresh, super sweet and milky corn at my disposal. This whole meal came together quickly (save for the time in the slow cooker, but that's effortless) and brought me back for seconds.
Grain Belt Pulled Pork Tacos + Minnesota Sweet Corn & Coconut Salad
Serves: 2
Preparation Time:
Pork — 4 hours on high, up to 8 hours on low
Corn & coconut salad —15 minutes
For Grain Belt Pulled Pork:
1 lb. pork (boneless country-style ribs, shoulder or butt would all work—I got some great looking ribs at Lakewinds Co-op)
coarse salt & freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. smoked paprika (Penzey's is awesome)
1 tbsp. dried oregano
coconut oil spray (or regular coconut oil, but you should definitely check out Trader Joe's spray—see the rave review on The Kitchn)
1 12-oz bottle Grain Belt beer (or any lager)
3 bay leaves
1 dried chipotle pepper (you can usually find these in the bulk section at co-ops or Latin markets)
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 c. lime juice
To Serve:
corn tortillas, warmed
Greek yogurt or sour cream
Method:
1. Spray or oil cast iron skillet and bring to high heat. Liberally sprinkle pork with salt/pepper and rub into the meat. Do the same for the cumin, chili powder, paprika and oregano. Once well-seasoned, sear and brown pork on all sides. Remove from skillet and place in slow cooker.
2. Pour beer over meat and add bay leaves, dried chipotle pepper, brown sugar and lime juice. Stir until well combined. Set slow cooker to low and leave for 6-8 hours (around 4 hours on high). When ready to eat, remove pork from slow cooker into a serving dish and shred apart with two forks. Either place back in slow cooker with leftover sauce on the warm setting, or spoon sauce over pork on serving dish.
For Minnesota Sweet Corn & Coconut Salad:
1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. coconut shavings (I got huge, flavorful shavings from the bulk section at Lakewinds Co-op for less than $1!)
coconut oil spray
2 ears sweet corn (or about 2 cups frozen corn)
1 small shallot, diced
4 sprigs fresh thyme
lime juice, to taste
coarse salt, to taste
Method:
1. Spray a large saute pan with coconut oil spray and bring to medium-high heat. Quickly toast almonds and coconut shavings until coconut is slightly golden. Remove pan from heat and pour coconut and almonds into a bowl/plate to cool.
2. Cut kernels off corn cobs. This is easier than it seems—here's a link to a video demonstrating how to do so. Chop shallot into a small dice.
3. Add a bit more coconut oil spray to the saute pan and bring back up to medium-high heat. Add corn, shallots and thyme leaves to pan and saute for just a few minutes, letting the corn get a few browned spots. Remove from heat.
4. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, sprinkle with lime juice and salt to taste. Serve with pork tacos or hell, throw it in the tacos! Omg, you're gonna love it.
