23

Feb / 12

Chile Verde Redux
Categories: Recipes

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Some of you probably saw my recipe last year for pork chili verde. Most people that have tried it have become big fans, but Troy said it sure seems like a lot of work. Now I can admit that it is a little labor intensive, although the flavor is well worth the elbow grease. Troy also mentioned that the ingredients add up, making the dish a little pricy. I look at it like this — it’s cheaper than any version I would get in a restaurant, especially when the control over keeping the ingredients clean is taken into account. That said, I can appreciate a good meal at a bargain and there are times I don’t want to slave in the kitchen.

Sean introduced me to Trader Joe’s carnitas when he posted about his bare-bones pulled pork when he was on the road. Up to that point, I had never tried TJ’s carnitas and didn’t know what I was missing! To quote Sean’s post:

Trader Joe’s Traditional Carnitas is a vacuum sealed, pre-cooked, 12 ounce hunk of pork that can be found in their deli section.

The great thing about these carnitas is that they have a decent amount of fat on them, so they don’t end up dry. This makes them a great approximation to the pork butt roast from the chili verde recipe I mention above.

Today’s recipe is for those short on time and/or funds. The only dish you will dirty while cooking is a crockpot. (You do have one of those, don’t you? If not, go to Target and drop $20 on one — you won’t regret it.)

Ingredients:

  • 2 packages of TJ’s carnitas
  • 2 jars of TJ’s salsa verde

Directions:

  1. Empty all ingredients into the crockpot.
  2. Turn crockpot on low.
  3. Wait about 2 hours until everything is warm and carnitas easily shred with a fork.
  4. Shred carnitas and mix thoroughly with salsa.
  5. Serve.

Each pack of the carnitas is roughly $5 and the salsa is about $2 per jar. Grand total: $14 for anywhere from 2 to 4 servings, depending on who you’re serving.

As you can see, this is really a no-brainer — even for the most kitchen-challenged among you. Give this easy recipe a try, it’s a decent approximation to the “real thing”.

WOD 02.23.12

Skills Day

3 Responses to “Chile Verde Redux”

Kevin Etheridge
February 23, 2012 at 8:40 AM

This is close to a chicken recipe my wife and I enjoy. Turns out really well. As follows…

(1) or (2) bottles of the salsa verde (depending on amount of chicken)
Boneless skinless chicken breasts – cut into 1 inch cubes
Package of mushrooms (optional, but I like em)
Dump it all in the crock pot, cool on low for 5 hours (for 1.5 pounds of chicken – time could increase slightly depending on crock pot or size of chicken cubes).
It works a treat.
Cheers, Marcus, for posting on the crock pot. It is a great tool, and cheap to boot.

Kevin Etheridge
February 23, 2012 at 8:42 AM

Where I say “cool” on low for five hours, I meant “cook on low”. No one likes cooled, raw chicken.

kathy
February 23, 2012 at 10:47 PM

Marcus – I forgot to tell you that my mom gave me a crockpot for Chinese New Year. One with automatic settings so I can leave it going when I’m at work.
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