Pulled Pork in Spicy Red Sauce with Cole Slaw

 

There's nothing like a big old sloppy, gooey pulled pork sandwich with an ice cold beer!

A while back, I came across a post that had a simple way of treating a pork shoulder to a massage with some great Tex-Mex spices, a long slow bath in a bubbling broth spiked with chilis, cilantro, onions, and garlic and then a pull session with a finish in some picante tomato sauce. Golly! What could be better, I thought?

Take the pulled pork and the picante sauce and make enchiladas! Yes ... it was stellar! Pam @ For the Love of Cooking graciously gave me permission to use her recipe in a recipe share. I've made this recipe twice since first seeing it. It is in my personal cook book at this point. It's that good ... and it's totally adaptable to so many other applications!

Today, for instance, I didn't have time to complete the enchilada portion of the recipe. I opted out for a bag of bulky rolls and a batch of cole slaw. This is such a busy time of year for everyone! Lawn and garden projects, end-of-the-year school activities, vacation plans, the first outdoor events ... they all crop up like a row of dominoes. Whether you live in the city or the countryside, life gets busy in June. Time for easy throw-together meals.

 I made cole slaw this morning and set it to chill in the fridge all day, put the pork in the slowcooker for the day and walked away to get all my running around and errands done. And tonight ... pulled pork sandwiches for supper, leftover dilly mac, and cold beers. What's your easy throw together meal for this time of year?

Cole Slaw

Ingredients:

1 small head of green cabbage, cut into thin slivers

2 small carrots, shredded

½ small green pepper, minced

1/4 c. minced onions

2 small sweet pickles, minced plus 2 tsp. pickle juice 

1 tsp. caraway seed

1 c. good quality mayonaisse

1½ tbsp. rice wine vinegar

½ tsp. celery seed

½ tsp. kosher salt

black pepper

Making the Slaw:

Combine the cabbage, carrots,green pepper, onions, pickles and their juice, and caraway seed in a deep bowl, tossing to distribute everything evenly.

Whisk together the mayonaisse,rice wine vinegar, celery seed and salt until smooth and incorporated.

Pour over the slaw and toss to combine thoroughly. Pepper to taste. Add more salt if needed. Cover tightly and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to let the dressing 'work on' the vegetables.

Note: I was reading about vegetables and residual pesticides the other day. Cabbage and carrots were a couple of the vegetables that it's important to get from organic farms or vendors ... just sayin'.