Pulled Pork and Spicy Slaw

Ahhh Sunday dinner. There is something about eating something comforting on Sunday night, something that has cooked all day or in the case of our pulled pork last night, for two days. The one thing I love about cooking big cuts of meat is the layering of flavors, and while I do try not to eat too much meat, pork is a favorite for slow cooking and adding ingredients throughout. On Saturday I bought a nice big cut of pork and started layering flavors by rubbing it generously with a mix of Jamaican jerk spice, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, cumin, and pepper.

I let the pork sit, covered in the fridge for three hours and then decided to get the cooking started. I put the pork in my slow cooker along with a couple cups of water, 1/2 cup of tomato paste, honey balsamic vinegar, and a couple of more dashes of spice. On Saturday I cooked it on low for six hours, let it cool and refrigerated it overnight, and then let it cook on low again for six hours on Sunday. It completely fell apart, making for a tender, flavorful base for our dinner.

Topping are always very important to me, and for this pork I had a few ideas in mind. The first was a simple slaw of green cabbage, jalapenos, rice vinegar, and honey. Chop the veggies, toss with about a cup of rice vinegar mixed with a spoon of honey, and voila. Perfect with pulled pork, amazing with fish tacos, or on its own, this easy slaw adds a crunchy tang wherever you put it.

One of the other toppings was something new I grabbed at Trader Joe’s, avocado salsa verde, an addictive combo of avocados and tomatillos with garlic and cilantro.

When it was time to eat, I filled my plate with pork, slaw, salsa, chopped tomatoes, and Greek yogurt. It looked pretty for the photo, and then I dove in and started mixing and matching flavors and textures. There was a lot going on in this meal, and I liked that it was both satisfying and healthy. And it went well with the warm spring day.

I couldn’t be happier with the weather we had over the weekend and the fun weekend I had. The only bad part when you have so much fun? Time flies!