Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Citrus Salsa

I love freezer meals that get you about 90% of the way to a dinner, but allow you to add an easy fresh component to finish it off. This is the case with this recipe. The pork is the main component for the taco, and if prepped and frozen ahead of time, just needs to cook in the crock pot, leaving the quick citrus salsa as really the only prep that needs to be done. While it adds a few more minutes of work, it is so refreshing and perfect with the fall-apart-tender pork.

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Citrus Salsa

 

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Ingredients

• FOR THE PORK:
• 1 large 3 to 4-lb boneless pork shoulder (or 2 smaller ones)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 jalapeno chiles, halved lengthwise and seeds removed
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 onion, thickly sliced
• FOR THE SALSA:
• 3 large oranges
• 2 grapefruits
• ⅓ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or olive oil)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• FOR ASSEMBLING:
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 small head napa cabbage, finely shredded
• Cotija cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. For the pork: Sprinkle the pork with the salt and pepper. Add to a crock pot, along with the orange juice, chicken broth, cumin, jalapenos, garlic, and onion. Turn crock pot on to low and cook for about 8 hours, until pork is very tender and easy to shred.
2. Make the salsa: cut the ends off the oranges and grapefruits, then cut away the peel (reserve the ends and peels). Slice, then roughly chop the citrus slices and place in a medium bowl. Finely chop the cilantro and add into the bowl with the fruit. In a small bowl, squeeze the juice from any fruit left on the peels and ends of the oranges and grapefruit. Whisk together with the honey, avocado oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the citrus and cilantro. (Depending on how much juice you get from the peels, you may have extra dressing. If it seems like too much for the amount of citrus you have, set some aside and save it for a salad).
3. Remove pork from crockpot. Strain cooking juice into a medium saucepan over medium high heat, and boil until slightly reduced while you shred the pork and heat the tortillas.
4. Warm tortillas in a small pan over medium heat until they are warmed completely. Shred the pork using a fork and place in a large serving dish. Pour some of the reduced juices over the pork.
5. Place some of the shredded pork in each warmed tortilla, then top with salsa, cabbage, and cheese, if using. Serve.

Notes

For the freezer: Freeze the uncooked pork in a ziplock bag and all the other components that go in the slow cooker together in another large freezer ziplock bag. When ready to use, defrost both, add to the slow cooker, then continue with the recipe.

Source: adapted from Giada De Laurentiis.

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