Sweet Pork Burritos

Reposted from Snakes Snails and Puppydog Tails.

This burrito recipe is one of my favorite recipes. I told Ginger I'd email it to her, and almost forgot, then decided just to post it here. It's a good summer recipe because you don't have to finish the burritos in the oven. I usually cook the meat and the rice, heat up the beans and tortillas, and let everyone assemble their own burrito. The salad dressing is good on almost anything. I keep it in a quart jar in the fridge.

Café Rio Style Pork Burritos

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs. boneless pork loin salt, pepper, garlic salt, to season
• 1 package flour tortillas (burrito size)
• 2 15 oz. cans mild green chili enchilada sauce
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, grated (more if desired)
• chicken broth or bouillon cubes
• around 2 c. prepared rice
• green enchilada sauce (1 large can or 2 regular)

Directions: Cut pork into large cubes and place in slow cooker with 1/3 c. water. Season with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Remove from cooker and drain. Shred meat and place in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together 1/2 to 3/4 cup green chili sauce and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Pour over pork and mix well.

--Rice: Prepare white rice per directions. Add chicken bouillon cubes to water, or use chicken broth instead of water for extra flavor.

--Beans: Drain black beans and warm up over the stove or in the microwave. Add salt and pepper to taste.

--Tortillas: Brown tortillas on a skillet with a little bit of cooking spray. (I like to use uncooked tortillas - you can get them at Costco)

--Assembly: Heat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour 1/2 cup green chili sauce into pan. Sprinkle each tortilla with cheese, then some rice, 1-2 T. chopped cilantro, black beans, and 1/3 c. pork mixture. Roll up each tortilla burrito style and place into dish seam side down. Pour remaining green sauce over burritos and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the oven until burritos are heated through and cheese is melted (around 20 minutes). Garnish with desired toppings (e.g. tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, lettuce).

Slow Cooker Black Beans

I tried this recipe today, with a few changes. I think I will make a few more changes next time, but the beans were good and making dinner this evening was pretty simple.

Here's what I did:

Sorted the beans and soaked over night in water.

Put them in the crock pot this morning, along with a can of diced tomatoes and water to cover everything. I put about half of an onion (diced) in the pot and a couple cloves of sliced garlic. Then I added some ground cumin, ground coriander, and chili powder. I simmered the beans on high for about 8 hours. At the last minute I added some salt and pepper. I also added a little water as needed throughout the day.

We had these with corn tortillas, queso fresco, lettuce, corn on the cob, and green grapes.

Next time, I think I will add a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies instead of the plain tomatoes. I'll also add the salt and pepper at the beginning instead of the end.

Fish Tacos

The kids and I like fish tacos - the kind you get at Rubio's, although we like El Azteca's fish tacos and Cocolito's are probably our favorite. Anyway, I attempted to make some for dinner on Sunday. I used a bunch of different recipes to get started, and put some of the ideas together for our tacos.

This recipe was probably the first one that I looked at. I ended up not using very many of her ideas, but it was a good foundation recipe.

For the fish, I bought a 1 pound bag of Archer Farms Alaskan cod fillets at Target. I let them thaw a little, sliced them, and used the fish and chips recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk

Dipped the fish and then fried them. It was messy and I think our house still smells like fish. Blah. But the tacos tasted pretty good.

For the sauce, I ended up using a variation of this recipe.

Unfortunately, I didn't buy yogurt and was out of mayo, so I improvised. I think the original recipe would have been better, but my last minute version was okay. I will make it correctly if there is a next time.

1/2 cup mayo (we borrowed miracle whip from a neighbor)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp dried dill weed

To put the tacos together, we had warmed corn tortillas, queso fresco. the sauce, the fish, and shredded lettuce (I didn't want to buy an entire head of cabbage for the tacos so we used lettuce).