Fast Pork Carnitas Nacho Salad

Fast Pork Carnitas Nacho Salad

The week has flown by and now here we are again – Fast N Fun Fridays!  For this recipe I got creative with 2 cups of leftover Pulled Pork.  It was a snap to turn it into delicious Mexican spiced Pork Carnitas to top my Nacho Salad.

I don’t have any fun stories to tell about this dish, it’s just fast and super easy to throw together on a Friday night when you just want to kick off the weekend with a tasty meal.

Tim and I usually do big meals on the weekends, man food on Mondays, whip up something sweet to last the week on Tuesdays, ignore Wednesdays (leftovers from the weekend – YAY!), make something from the 1940’s – 1970’s on Thursday and then chill with something fast on Fridays.  In between I make my own breads and rolls and in the winter you can find me stirring huge pots of warm milk to make all sorts of cheeses.  Yeah I know, we’re not the most exciting culinary folk around, but hey, we’re old so that counts for something like cooking wisdom, right?

So here’s a fantastic option for leftover bits of pork, be it chops, a roast or, my personal favorite – Pulled Pork.  If you haven’t got any leftover Pulled Pork handy, you can use leftover cooked beef to make Beef Carnitas, and leftover cooked chicken is tasty too!  But for me, it’s the pork that makes this Fast Pork Carnitas Nacho Salad so special.  It’s tender juicy meat lightly scented with orange, cumin and garlic.  What’s not to love?

The first thing to do is to rustle up about 2 cups of cooked pork.  Whenever I make a roast, I toss 2 cups of the cubed cooked roast into an air tight plastic container and then toss it into the freezer just for last minute meals like this.  Got your leftover pork?  Yes?  Then on we go!

Squeeze the juice of half a large orange over the pork, then slice the peel into 2 or 3 large pieces and push it down into the pork.  Pop it into the fridge to sit all day.

When you’re ready to cook, assemble your ingredients – sorta like this.  Be creative and use the Mexican flavors you like best for your Carnitas Nacho Salad.

The first thing to do is to get a large cast iron or non-stick skillet piping hot.  Add 2 tbsp. of oil to coat the bottom, then toss in the pork – minus the orange peels of course.  Let it sit and sizzle in the pan for a minute or two while you assemble the base of the salad.  For this meal I used a can of well drained black beans, some bagged salad mix and plenty of pickled jalapeno’s. 

Top all of that with a hefty layer of grated cheeses like Monterey Jack and Sharp Cheddar.  Then go stir up your Pork Carnitas.  By now the bottom of it should be dark brown and crispy.  The only thing left to do is to add about 1 tsp. of powdered garlic and 2 tsp. of cumin, plus a pinch of salt to the pan.  Stir well and remove from the heat.

Pile the pork in a big mound on top of the cheese layer, then add some avocado, salsa, sour cream and whatever else you found in your fridge that looks tasty!

And that’s it – Fast Pork Carnitas Nacho Salad in about 20 minutes.  Quick, tasty, and you’ve got lots of free time to go watch a movie and snuggle with your favorite movie person.

Fast Pork Carnitas Nacho Salad

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Use whatever leftover meat you have and turn it into a Mexican Carnitas spiced topping for an easy Nacho Salad

Author: Toni

Recipe type: Fast N Easy Dinners

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• For the Carnitas
  
• 2 Cups Leftover Pork, or other cooked meat, shredded
• ½ a Large Orange
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 2 teaspoons Cumin or Chili Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
  
• For the Nacho Salad
• Tortilla Chips
• Lettuce or Bagged Lettuce Mix
• 1 Can of Beans - I like drained black beans, but pinto's or refried beans work too!
• 3 Cups Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese - Shredded
• Pickled Jalapeno's - or raw if you like it hot!
• 1 Ripe Avocado - peeled and sliced
• 1 8 oz. Container Sour Cream
• Salsa

Instructions

1. Squeeze the orange juice all over the pork, then slice the peel in 2-3 pieces and push them into the pork. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and as long as 24 hours.
2. When ready to prepare the salad, heat a large cast iron or non-stick skillet on high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to coat the bottom, then remove the orange peels and place the shredded pork into the pan. Don't stir! Leave the pork to crisp on the bottom for about 2 minutes or until very brown and crispy.
3. While the pork is crisping, Arrange a layer of tortilla chips around the edge of each dinner plate.
4. In the center of the plate add lettuce, then top with beans and sprinkle with jalapeno's.
5. Sprinkle a generous portion of the shredded cheeses over the entire plate.
6. Check the pork. If it's brown underneath and crispy, add the spices to the pan, then turn off the heat and stir thoroughly.
7. Top the center portion of each plate with a large mound of the pork carnitas.
8. Set several slices of avocado around the edges of the dish.
9. Let each diner add their own sour cream and salsa toppings.

3.2.2708