Cumin Pork with Adobo Black Beans and Red Pepper Salad

I used to love Instagram. When it first came out I used it all the time and thought it was a great way to share my food photos and I quickly gained over 3,000 followers. Now it seems to be a little bit of a waste of time. It doesn't create any blog traffic the way that Pinterest does (Pinterest is awesome for blog traffic!), interaction is at a minimum, and there seems to be a large number of 20 year old girls taking photos of themselves in bikinis. Now I could rock a mean looking bikini if I wanted to, but that isn't something that at 36 I feel the need to want attention for doing. I think social media is stuck at a crossroads. One can only take so many selfies, be they making duck faces for Facebook, or full body bikini shots for Instagram, before the saturation point is reached. Then what. I think Instagram is at that point. How does it move from an over abundance of people taking photos of every little thing they ate and the full body bikini shot of them doing it, to something that can actually be of use to anyone from a business or professional point of view. In the mean time I refuse to start taking photos of myself holding a pie in a skimpy bikini for more likes.

My family is obsessed with pork. If my husband and two kids had their way we would pretty much eat pork everyday. While I love pork, I try to minimize the amount of pork, beef, and lamb that my family eats, so we only eat red meat approximately once a week. When we do eat pork it's normally in the form of pork tenderloin or bacon. The following is a recipe for Cumin Pork with Adobo Black Beans and Red Pepper Salad.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network Magazine.

Cumin Pork with Adobo Black Beans and Red Pepper Salad

Ingredients

• 1 thinly sliced red onion
• 3 limes, juiced
• 1 teaspoon chopped chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (from chipotle chili can)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 pounds trimmed pork tenderloin
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 small red peppers, cut into strips
• 1 15.5 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Cooking Directions

1. In a small bowl combine half of the sliced red onion with the juice of 2 limes, `1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of salt, and the chopped chipotle.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Rub the pork with 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin.
4. Add the pork to the skillet and brown on all sides.
5. Roast pork on a baking sheet in a 425 degree pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes (or until the temp reaches 145 degrees).
6. Transfer to a cutting board, cover with foil, and let the pork rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
7. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the red peppers to the skills that the pork was browned in.
8. Cook the pepper for approximately 4 minutes, or until slightly softened.
9. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup water.
10. Cook until the water evaporates, approximately 4 more minutes.
11. Add to the onion mixture in the bowl.
12. Add the black beans to the remaining red onion, 2 teaspoons adobo sauce, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cilantro, and juice of one lime.
13. Serve the beans, peppers, and sliced pork together.

Tips: 

• You can substitute cooked beans for the canned. 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans is approximately equivalent to a 15 ounce can. 
• If you don't use olive oil, canola, sunflower etc. can be substituted. 
• Don't cut the cilantro until right before you are going to use it. Cilantro starts to lose flavor as soon as it's cut. That's why it's best to chop cilantro right before it is added to salsas etc. Cilantro is not one of the herbs that you want to pre-prep, just don't do it. 

Slow Cooker Cochinita Pibil

As you all know I absolutely love my slowcooker. There is nothing better than prepping food on a busy weekday morning and having it all done when you get home. Recently, my youngest has been very clingy and my dinner time prep has turned to chaos. His attachment seemed to have started when my oldest started back at school, so I have been trying to find ways to save time at dinner in order to spend more time with him during the day. So far it seems to be working well and he is slowly acting like his normal happy self again. One of the new crockpot recipes I tried recently came from an unlikely source, a coupon insert from Kroger which came to my mailbox. I love coupons and as I was looking through them I came across a recipe for Slow Cooker Cochinita Pibil, which looked delicious and perfect for a busy weeknight meal.

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, plus 1 tsp. sauce
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. annato powder or paste
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper 
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground clove
• 1 boneless pork but (about 4 lbs.)

Cilantro, onions, tortillas, and lime wedges for serving.

In a blender or food processor, puree the first 14 ingredients until smooth. Brown the pork butt in a small amount of oil. Add to slow cooker and pour the seasoning mix over. Cover and cook on high for 8 hours.

I did make a few changes to this recipe. The original recipe did not brown the meat before placing it in the crockpot. Any meat going into a slowcooker needs to be braised in order to remain moist. If you miss this step your meat will be far less flavorful and oftentimes turn out very tough. My family really enjoyed this recipe and I like that it came from an unlucky source. Sometimes the best recipes can be found in unlikely sources! If you end up trying this recipe tell me how it turns out!

Recipe adapted from Kroger Corporation home coupon mailer.

Parents Chipotle Sweet-Potato Pigskins

I'm not a huge fan of regular baked potatoes. When everyone else at a restaurant is ordering a baked potato I am eating a salad. Growing up my mom never really made potato dishes. It was my dad who would wake up early on Sunday mornings and prepare a huge breakfast with a large helping of fried potatoes. I still love those fried potatoes whenever I go home. While I might not love regular baked potatoes, I do love sweet potatoes. I could devour pretty much any dish or recipe utilizing sweet potatoes. The February issue of Parents Magazine had a recipe for Chipotle Sweet-Potato Pigskins which promised to be low in fat and have a smoky heat from the chipotles.

This recipe has six ingredients. It takes 1 hour and 40 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active, and makes 8 servings. There are very few ingredients in this recipe and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. Make sure to pick small to medium sweet potatoes in order for them to fully cook in the amount of time suggested. If your sweet potatoes are on the larger side it could take up to a half hour longer than the suggested time. Additionally, be careful when you are scooping out the sweet potatoes to not scrap all the way through the skin or they won't hold up to be re-stuffed. For the potatoes for my two kids I   left off the onions and Greek yogurt since they can be hit or miss on what they will eat. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. 

The chipotles in this recipe create a delicious smokey flavor, with a little bit of heat. Sweet Potatoes are a great source of vitamin C, which is great for this time of year when everyone seems to be fighting off some sort of cold or sickness. My husband loved that these sweet potatoes had a different type of taste than your run of the mill variety from steak houses. Overall, an easy recipe with great flavor.

For the recipe go to Chipotle Sweet-Potato Pigskins.