52 Pick-Up Challenge: Week #4

*This series of Friday posts is inspired by the blog entry--52 Pick-Up Paleo Style by Amy Kubal via robbwolf.com. Each post is based on this premise that Dietary Ruts = Kitchen Boredom -> Healthy Eating FAIL! So each week, I plan to share with you one meal from the previous week that I tried and enjoyed to help me stave off the boredom in my weekly meal plan.

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Ah, the humble tomatillo...what art thou? Art thou a tomato?  ¿Por qué llevas esas hojas? Why must I char you along with this jalapeño? You are so intriguing; therefore, I am making you part of my 52 Pick-Up Paleo Style. So I fired up my slow-cooker, fired up my cast-iron skillet, and got to work with this recipe from Sarah Fragoso at Everyday Paleo. 



Recipe #4 of 52: Everyday Paleo Chili Verde (found in Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook & here)
*All acknowledgements go to Sarah Fragoso for this recipe. If she asks me to remove it due to copyright rules, I will gladly do so. Until then, please enjoy!


Ingredients

• 2.5 lb pork shoulder roast, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 2 lbs tomatillos
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch cilantro
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• Sea salt to taste

Directions

1. Cut pork roast into ½ inch cubes. 
2. Heat the coconut oil over medium high in a large soup pot and add the pork once the oil is hot enough that it sizzles when you add a piece of meat.  Brown the pork pieces for 4-5 minutes and remove the pork from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.  
3. Add the onions and garlic to the oil and pork drippings and sauté for 7-10 min or until the onions start to brown.  
4. Turn the heat down a bit and add the cumin, paprika and black pepper to the onions and garlic and mix well (it will be kind of pasty).  
5. Add the chicken broth to the onion mixture and mix well, making sure to scrape all the goodness off the bottom of the pan.  
6. Add the pork back to the soup pot into the liquid and bring to a boil.  Turn down to low. While the meat simmers, peel and wash the tomatillos.  Dry them well and in a large skillet over medium heat char them along with the jalapeno turning often, until the skins start to blacken (about 10 minutes). 
7. Place the charred tomatillos, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice into a food processer or blender and blend until smooth.  
8. Add to the pork in the soup pot and simmer for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until the pork is fall apart tender.  The sauce will reduce down and become thicker over the course of the cooking process. (Note: I prepared all of this on Sunday night, and refrigerated it overnight. On Monday, we put it in the slow-cooker on low for 6-8 hours. The meat was nice & tender at dinner time.)
9. Serve with sliced avocado and cilantro for garnish.

So I learned a lot about tomatillos through the process. I learned that they make really yummy salsa verde & it is super easy (who needs the bottled stuff when you can make your own). I learned that shucking a tomatillo is way easier than shucking corn. And I learned that it's fun to pick up and try something new at the grocery store (Thanks Pete's Fresh Market)!

For this post, I'd like to acknowledge Sarah Fragoso, author of Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, for making a wonderful recipe. And for the photos, I used them from these sites: statisticalrecipes.blogspot.com, www.organicgardening.com, & ediblemenu.blogspot.com (if you'd like me to delete them, your wish will be my command).