I am not a huge television football fan. I enjoy going to football games, especially when I have a team to cheer on. When my girls were in high school, two of them were cheerleaders. My husband and I would go to every football game. We always had a great time, except for the games where there was that one obnoxious fan sitting in the bleachers with her cowbell. Sheesh, I guess there’s one in every crowd.
I'm also a huge fan of people gathering together to have some fun when a great game is being played.
The Super Bowl is such a popular time for friends and family to gather together to watch an exciting game with awesome commercials. In my old neighborhood, we could hear the cheers coming from our neighbors' houses when there was a good play made or the frustration when there was a bad call.
If you are the lucky one hosting a Super Bowl party, it is a lot of work. So let’s make this a little easier. The first recipe I am going to share is almost too good to be true, but believe me, it is so simple and so delicious. In fact, my husband had a work potluck on Monday and his fellow workers were literally scooping up this meat into paper cups to take home.
Carnitas Tacos
Ingredients:
Pork Roast
1 large jar of salsa
1. Get out your trusty crock pot. You know, the one we just had a column about.
2. Put in your pork roast. At Costco, there is a 4-pack of pork roasts for about $1.99 per pound. They are a great size, packaged individually, and perfect for this recipe. You can cook as many as you need. For a group of 30, I cooked 3.
3. Pour the entire jar of salsa over the top of the meat. (I really like the Kirkland Organic Salsa for this recipe. It is a large jar and really gives this meat great flavor).
4. Set your crock pot on low for 7 hours and go put your feet up.
5. After the 7 hours, the meat should be tender enough to pull apart in large chunks. Pull the meat apart, stir it around in the juices and set it to cook for another hour. This allows all of that yummy salsa flavored juice to make it to all of the meat.
6. Once the meat is done cooking, drain off some of the liquid and shred the meat with a fork. I don’t shred it super fine, as we enjoy nice pieces of meat to bite into.
7. I like to serve these with corn tortillas, but flour also works out well.
The toppings I like to use are:
1. Chopped cabbage
2. Diced onion
3. Chopped cilantro
4. Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
5. Sour cream
6. Salsa
Great sides to this are Chips and Salsa, Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice. This is a fun meal to serve in the foil tins. You can get those at Smart and Final.
Black Beans just out of the can aren’t that great. An easy way to turn OK black beans into great black beans is below.
Black Beans (copycat recipe from Café Rio)
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions:
In a skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Add the cilantro just prior to serving.
Serves: 6
How easy is that recipe?
Cilantro Lime Rice (another copycat recipe from Café Rio)
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 tsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can chicken broth (15 oz.)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions:
In a saucepan, combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime juice, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat.
In a small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp. lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.
Make these recipes for your guests and I guarantee you will score a winning touchdown.
Malissa Meeks is a mother of seven who knows her way around the kitchen. By her estimate, she has prepared more than 42,000 meals over the years. She also knows what she likes in a good restaurant. Her column appears here each Wednesday. Leave comments here or email them to menifee247info@gmail.com.
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