Jerk Pulled Pork With Caribbean Rice and Beans

Its been a long week. I had to do my National Board videos this week and everything went wrong... camera ran out of battery even when I recharged it all night, students were sick, the video didn't go long enough, etc. Then I got sick. Arrggg. Since its been a crazy week I haven't cooked that much, which has made me feel even worse because my husband doesn't cook and is very quick to suggest eating out. I hate eating out and it makes me feel disgusting for days afterwards but as we speak he's out getting a salad for me from Subway from across the street. I wanted sushi, he wanted convenience, so that's what we are getting because he is the one running out for it.

Last week, before the Super Bowl, we had people over for the Silva UFC fight. My husband texted everyone that we were having "light appetizers" but in our house that means there is a lot of food! Everyone knows us for having tons of food when they come over, so I couldn't disappoint. Here are two easy and very tasty dishes. I made these two dishes, along with some other Caribbean ones, when we had our parents over after we eloped and told them that we got married so they are near and dear to my heart. Since we were having people over I didn't get to take great pictures (they were all guys and I didn't want to have to explain why I was taking pictures of food) but you cant go wrong with the recipes.

Slower Cooker Jerk Pulled Pork

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 pound boneless pork shoulder roast (or 3 - 4 pound if you are using one with bone, which we prefer)

3 Tbs of Jamaican jerk seasoning

1 cup of water

2 large onions, sliced (optional)

1 Tbs of lime juice

Rub jerk seasoning evenly over roast. Place meat into slow cooker. Pour water into slow cooker. If you want to have soft onions to put onto your sandwiches put the sliced onions in the slow cooker before the pork. Cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours or high heat for 4 to 5 hours.

After cooked, remove meat from slow cooker and shred it. Skim the fat from the juices and add enough to moisten the meat. Stir in the lime juice to the meat. Place on to rolls for sandwiches or use on its own.

Caribbean Rice and Beans

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 of a large red onion (thinly sliced)

4 Tbs of balsamic vinegar

1 tbs of olive oil

1 white onion, finely chopped

4 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup of Arborio rice

3 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)

1/2 cup of white wine

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp of turmeric

1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

Place the beans, onions, and vinegar in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Use salt and pepper to season or, if you have dry jerk seasoning left from the pork, use a little to season the beans.

While beans are sitting, begin the rice. Heat the oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent (5 min). Add rice and stir for 1 minute. Then add white wine and stir until absorbed. Add broth, bay leaves, turmeric and cayenne pepper and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for around 25 minutes until rice is tender and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. Place rice on platter. Drain the bean mixture if there is any vinegar left and then place on top of the rice.

Lettuce Wraps and Asian Cucumber Salad

Well, we made it through snowmageddon and for the first time in 13 years my work was closed. Woo hooo! Well, not really. I thought I would enjoy snow days more, but instead of relaxing I spent it shoveling for 5 hours so I could get my car out just in case I had work the next day. My brother and I (with my husband supervising since he cant move his back still) shoveled the sideway, our cars, and our part of the alley out. Then we realized no one else was shoveling so we shoveled 4 more houses to the left. On the right was a 10 ft hill that a bulldozer created early in the morning cutting off one side of the alley. Once we shoveled 4 houses down, we realized that there were around 4 more houses to go. By this time two other guys from other houses had come out and suggested we take on the hill instead. So we did the hill and every part of me still aches... plus I was really angry with our neighbors who live under us. When we first came out, they came by (from a friends house) and laughed. When we asked for help, they said they had a snow blower and we asked that they bring it. They left and didn't came back until we finished everything. We even texted them while shoveling and no help. The next snow day I spent the whole day working on an IEP and I would like to complain about that too, but you never know who reads things on the Internet, so all I have to say is that I find some people's work ethic disgusting.

The day before the snow I went shopping and wanted something that tasted fresh. I had looked at a lettuce wrap recipe from This Week For Dinner and kept it in mind when shopping. My husband hates tofu (I have no idea why, it is so bland and sucks up any sauce that it is) so I had to make a vegetarian and a meat option.

2 Types of Lettuce Wraps

Adapted from This Week For Dinner

Ingredients

1 pound of pork chops (sliced up into small bits) or ground chicken, pork, turkey, etc

1 container of tofu, cubed

1 onion, chopped into small cubes

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbs of fresh ginger, minced

1 can of water chestnuts, chopped

1 container of fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped into small cubes

1 Tbs of soy sauce

1/4 cups of hoisin

1 Tbs of sherry

1 Tbs of Asian chili pepper sauce

1/2 cup toasted cashews, chopped

1 bunch of green onions

2 tsp of sesame oil

1 - 2 heads of butter or bibb lettuce

1 Tbs of hoisin sauce

3 Tbs of plum sauce

If Making Both Types

Add a Tbs of oil in a large skillet and saute garlic, onions and ginger over medium heat until soft. Add mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for a minute or two. Then add soy sauce, hoisin, sherry and chili pepper sauce and simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in chopped water chestnuts and then remove from heat. Put into two bowls. Cook the pork by sprinkling with salt and pepper sauteing for a few minutes until no longer pink. Mix in with ingredients in one bowl. Put a Tbs of oil in pan for tofu and wait till hot. Put in tofu and cook until it is as browned as you like. Put tofu in other bowl and mix with other ingredients. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil, half of the cashews, and half of the green onions in each bowl. Serve with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.

If Making Just Pork

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add pork (seasoned with salt and pepper to taste), onions and garlic and cook until pork is cooked through. Then add mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for a minute or two. Add soy sauce, hoisin, sherry and chili pepper sauce and simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in chopped water chestnuts and then remove from heat. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil, cashews, and green onions and mix in a bowl. Serve with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.

If Making Just Tofu

Add a Tbs of oil in a large skillet and saute garlic, onions and ginger over medium heat until soft. Add mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for a minute or two. Then add soy sauce, hoisin, sherry and chili pepper sauce and tofu and simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in chopped water chestnuts and then remove from heat. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil and green onions and mix in a bowl. Serve with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce

Mix together hoisin and plum sauce and serve!

Asian Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 large seedless cucumber, peeled, sliced in half then cut in 1/2 inch slices

2 Tbs of chopped onion

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)

Toasted sesame seeds

Put the cucumber in a bowl and mix with onion. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan on low heat until sugar is dissovled. Pour on top of cucumber mixture. Cool in refrigerator for an hour or more. Tastes great the next day. Sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds.