slow-cooker pulled pork tacos
Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 9:55AM [Disclosure: The recipe at the end of this post was developed as a result of my management of the Recipe ReDux Recipe Contest with Vita Coco Coconut Water. I was compensated for the management of that contest. I was not however, asked to post this recipe. All opinions expressed are my own.]
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I sat through a wonderful session last week at the annual IACP Conference, led by Faith from The Kitchn. The Kitchn - as I'm sure many of you know - has (IMO) become to the internet what Martha was to the TV and magazine world back before Martha's unfortunate incarceration. (To read more about my opinion on that subject, click here.)
Most online food blog types hold The Kitchn in high regard. I'm no exception. Irrespective of the fact that they basically crashed our server the day they published a post on Healthy Aperture (which I am still to this day eternally grateful for... server maintenance never felt so good. Come to think of it, I would give most anything for them to crash Fit Framed. My new baby needs a little love, but I digress....), I think the site is full of useable information, coupled with a hefty dose of domestic inspiration.
One of the things Faith talked about in her session was the "recipe" for a successful online post; basically, the types of food articles and recipes people are looking for. While the foodie in most of us might like to think that it's some elaborate lemongrass-infused fish en papillote dish, the reality is that's just not what most people are looking for... at least not to cook at home.
What do they want?
Familiar
Fast
Easy
...and Weird
Weird isn't exactly what you'd think. Not weird in a "eewww, that's gross" kinda way. More like "hey... why didn't I think of that" kinda way. (The example Faith gave was of that banana ice cream that the blogosphere just about exploded over... you know, the one-ingredient, in the food processor soft serve?)
Anyway, it got me thinking about what recipes seem to have the most appeal here, as well as on Healthy Aperture (which believe it or not, I pay much more attention to Healthy Aperture's traffic than I do this blog. I love this space for being whatever I want it to be. Healthy Aperture is a business. Enough said.)
Faith also gave some hints to words, techniques & trends that perform better than others.
Hello "Slow-Cooker" and "Pulled Pork"....
I hope you'll give these a try. They're super familiar, fast and easy. I guess three out of four ain't so bad?
What about you, blog friends? What recipes are the most popular on your blog?
Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin
- 1/2 cup coconut water (not milk)
- 1/2 cup salsa verde
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon coconut water (not milk)
- Juice of 1 lime
- 8 medium-size corn tortillas
- 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (about 4 ounces)
- 3/4 cup salsa verde
Instructions
Place pork tenderloin in a slow-cooker. Combine 1/2 cup each coconut water and salsa verde in a small bowl; stir in cumin and salt. Pour over pork. Cook on HIGH for 5 hours or LOW for 8 hours or until pork is tender and shreds or pulls easily with two forks.
Remove pulled pork from slow-cooker. Strain cooking liquid over pork and keep warm until ready to serve.
Combine tomato, cilantro, remaining coconut water and lime juice in a medium-size bowl.
To serve, divide pork, tomatoes, remaining salsa verde and cheese evenly among tortillas.
