It appears as though I’ve been on a bit of a taco kick lately. But I swear, I can’t help it. When springtime’s in the air (heck, summertime with the weather we’ve been experiencing lately), I just crave easy, bright foods with lots of flavor. Enter these fabulous Carnitas Tacos with Red Cabbage Citrus Slaw. So yummy, so good, so flipping easy.

All it requires is a bit of time to make – but it’s mostly hands off. You sear the pork, add a few spices and water, and then simmer away. While the pork shoulder is slowly tenderizing via a slow braise and while you prep the slaw, you can spend that time catching up on This American Life, which I find to always be a wonderful cooking companion when it’s just me in the kitchen. This episode featured a few excerpts from a podcast called “Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People,” which really struck a chord with me. Have any of you listened to that podcast yet? I think I’m a new fan. I can’t wait to listen to more of it.

Anyway…I digress. Try not to get too distracted by the radio, and as the pork simmers in the oven, enjoy the aroma of the cinnamon wafting through the air.

To be honest, when I first made this recipe, I was a little skeptical of the addition of the cinnamon to the spice mixture. To me cinnamon is a sweet flavor, and not something I’m a huge fan of in savory dishes. (I’ve had some East Indian meals that I think overdid it on the cinnamon and spoiled all the rest of the marvelous flavors.) But the spices in these pork carnitas are so balanced that it just enhances the fantastic savory flavors that are already there. The added benefit is that your house will smell lovely and cinnamon-y as the oven works its magic.

The cabbage slaw also adds a great “crunch” component, which is something I think I’m always seeking out in recipes. And, if you’re into color and vibrancy, then the rich purple of the red cabbage will not leave you wanting. My grandma would be happy with this dish. (She always aims for a rainbow of colors at each meal – and I’m going to say that’s served her well as she’s 91 and going strong!)

This recipe will make a hefty amount, great for multiple servings to multiple people, or enough for many happy nights of leftovers for dinner. Everything is best served fresh and hot from the oven, but this also holds up well to reheating. Just make sure not to overheat the carnitas, which will leave things a little dry and not as tender as its initial straight-from-the-oven bliss.

Carnitas Tacos with Red Cabbage Citrus Slaw

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours 30 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dinner

Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat (or bone-in...just remove the bone)
• salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 small head or half a large head of red cabbage, shredded
• 1 small orange, juiced and zested
• olive oil
• corn tortillas, toasted
• chopped avocado
• fresh cilantro
• lime wedges

Instructions

1. Sprinkle and rub the pork with the salt. Add oil to a large ovenproof pot or dutch oven, and heat over medium high heat. Sear the pork in batches until it’s browned on all sides.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make sure all pork has been added back to the dutch oven. To that, add in the spices, bay leaves and garlic. Stir to distribute. Cover the meat ⅔ of the way up with water. (For reference, I used about 12 cups of water.) Bring to a boil on the stove. Once your mixture begins to boil, place the entire mixture into the oven, and leave the pot uncovered. Cook 3 ½ to 4 hours (I cooked mine for 4 hours), checking the pork every hour to give it a stir and assess the water level. If the pot starts drying out, add a little more water (you will likely not run into this issue). Remove the pot from the oven when the pork is tender and falling apart.
3. Toss the shredded cabbage with orange juice, orange zest, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt to taste. Serve the carnitas in a toasted corn tortilla (I toast mine straight over my open stove flame), along with the cabbage slaw, some fresh avocado chunks, fresh cilantro sprigs and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Notes

Barely adapted from The Woks of Life.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2 tacos

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Once again, life gets away from me and I haven’t been able to post on here as much as I’d prefer. I’ve also been in a bit of a slump recipe-wise. You know…the kind where you make a meal and it’s just sort of lacking somehow and all you can do is utter a resouding, “Meh.” Thankfully, that’s turned right around with these Chipotle Spice Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream. An about face, really!

I made these last night, and I canNOT get enough of them, despite the fact that they are tacos and are somewhat messy to eat (I tend to avoid messy things, which is really pretty silly of me). In my opinion, these tacos embody everything that really makes a recipe shine – they’re easy, they’re quick to make, they’re healthy (gluten-free, too!), they deliver a satisfying crunch of texture, they’re filling yet light, and they make my spice-loving self giddy.

Spice, to me, is essential in a good recipe. Without spices to take regular ingredients to the next level, I’m left with that unsatisfied “meh” feeling. But this…this recipe is full of robust flavor. The chipotle spice is a little sweet, a little smoky, with just a hint of heat. And yes – it’s specifically chipotle chili pepper powder you want to use here. Regular chili powder is often a blend of spices. Typically in the blend you’ll get chilis (however, you often won’t know what kind of pepper is included), cumin, oregano, garlic and salt. And while that may work in a pinch, it’s nice to use straight up chipotle chili pepper powder that’s unadulterated by those other spices.

It’s worth mentioning, too, that the heat from the chipotle chili pepper powder is tempered by the addition of the avocado cream, so if you prefer more heat in your meals, then I’d suggest cutting the chipotle powder with a little cayenne to amp up the heat level.

Which leads me to…that avocado cream. You’ll start out making this first, and ohhhhh – is it ever-so-delicious, so refreshing, so light and pleasantly tangy. I’m a bit of a lime-lover, so I tend to splash a little more lime juice and a little more lime zest than called for into my recipes. Not *too* much more, though, or that pleasant tang can overpower the other flavors of this dish.

Once you’ve made the avocado cream, you can prep the cilantro slaw, which is also bright, light and happy, and really adds a satisfying crunch to the tacos. I just used a pre-made slaw base to keep this on the quick and easy side, but you can make your own from scratch, too. I again splashed a little more lime juice than called for into the slaw and added a generous dose of cilantro, a dash of green onions, and, holy moly – I lurrrve it.

Once you’ve got your avocado cream and slaw created and ready to go, go ahead and start working on your chicken. Sprinkle the spices evenly over the 1/4″ strips you’ve cut from the breast, pop them into a toasty-hot pan lightly coated with olive oil, and sizzle away for about 4 minutes or so as you stir and flip the chicken pieces frequently. You’ll likely want to cook your chicken in two batches, so be sure to keep the first batch warm by tenting it with foil as you finish up the rest.

Tent all the chicken once you’ve completed cooking it, and get your tortillas warm and ready to go. There are a few options – you can microwave them along with a damp paper towel, you can dry toast them in a hot, dry pan (this will add just the slightest crunch, so if you like that, go for it!), or you can directly toast them over an open flame on your stovetop. I prefer this method and turn my flame onto a medium-low setting, set the tortilla directly over the flame (and on the stove top grate) for about 30 seconds each side, shifting it around a bit so it can evenly warm and lightly char the surface. After you’ve warmed and toasted your tortillas, you’ll want to prevent heat loss by gently wrapping them in a clean dish towel.

Then, it’s assembly time! A serving of these chipotle spice chicken tacos with cilantro slaw and avocado cream is about two tacos, so get everything ready to go, add a few pieces of chicken, add a few tablespoons of slaw, add about a tablespoon of avocado cream and sprinkle with a few rinsed and drained black beans. Voila – dig in!

(P.S. If you don’t eat all the servings for this recipe in one go, it makes for great, fast leftovers, too. Just heat your chicken separately, get your tortillas toasted and assemble. Easy as pie!)

Chipotle Spice Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream

 

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Prep time

22 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dinner

Makes: 16 tacos (8 servings)

Ingredients

Avocado Cream

• ¼ to ½ teaspoon grated lime rind (or grate about half a lime)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½ cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 4 tablespoons plain, unsweetened coconut milk - not from a can, but from a carton (like Silk)
• 1 ripe, peeled avocado, diced

Cilantro Slaw

• 4 cups packaged slaw
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onion
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon salt

Chipotle Spice Chicken

• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into ¼-inch strips
• 1½ teaspoons chipotle chili pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Beans

• 1 can, rinsed and drained black beans

Tortillas

• 16, 6-inch corn tortillas

Instructions

1. For the avocado cream, combine lime juice, lime zest, yogurt, coconut milk and avocado in a blender, food processor or immersion blender, and process until smooth. Set aside.
2. For the cilantro slaw, combine slaw, green onion, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice and salt in a medium-sized bowl, and toss to coat. Set aside.
3. For the chicken, heat a large saute pan over medium-high to high heat.
4. Combine chipotle chili powder, garlic powder, salt and cumin in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning mixture.
6. Add olive oil to pan and swirl to coat.
7. Add about half the chicken to the pan and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently, and flipping the chicken about halfway through. Remove and keep warm with foil tent. Repeat this for remaining chicken.
8. Heat the corn tortillas either via dry toasting in a dry pan, via microwave along with a damp paper towel, or directly over an open flame. To keep tortillas warm until ready to serve and assemble, place in a clean dishtowel and loosely cover.
9. Divide the chicken mixture evenly among the tortillas. Top each with ¼ cup slaw mixture, 1 tablespoon avocado cream, and 1 tablespoon black beans, and serve.

Notes

Regular, low-fat or non-fat milk can be used in place of coconut milk in a carton.
Light sour cream can be used in place of the Greek yogurt.
If you'd like more heat in your tacos, I suggest cutting a bit of the chipotle spice with cayenne to amp it up a bit more.

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