Recipe Wednesday: Pork Tacos with Chimichurri

After a long holiday season full of rich foods and sweets, we were in the mood for something a little brighter this week. Enter: Chimichurri, the national sauce of Argentina and the perfect tart and salty foil to a long parade of cheese dips. It's incredibly versatile—you can put it on just about anything you'd put pesto on (meat, bread, pasta, veggies, potatoes, pizza, etc.)—but we decided to stick with the traditional pairing of pork (mildly seasoned so as not to compete with the sauce) and make ourselves some sloppy tacos.

Because we're total food geeks, we prepared the chimichurri the night before to let the flavors mellow together, and since we had a bunch of errands to run, crock pot cooking made perfect sense. We fixed our tacos with the pork, chimichurri (recipes below) and fresh mozzarella in steamed corn tortillas.

Other things you might want to try: flour tortillas, black beans, tomatoes, fried potatoes/hash browns, rice, sour cream, queso fresco, chichuahua cheese, salsa, lettuce, shredded cabbage ... the possibilities are endless.


SHREDDED PORK IN ZE CROCKPOT

1/2 standard pork loin
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 medium onion, sliced rustically
1 cup water
1 cube chicken bullion or powder equivalent
1/4 cup apple cider (or white) vinegar

Combine cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a small bowl. Rub loin with spice mixture. You can wrap the meat and refrigerate it overnight at this point for a deeper flavor, but it's not necessary.

In at least a 4-quart crockpot, combine loin, onion, water, vinegar and bullion. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred with a fork.


CHIMICHURRI*

1 bunch parsley, leaves finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro, leaves finely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Put the parsley, cilantro, capers and garlic in a medium mixing bowl and toss to combine. Add the vinegar, salt, red and black pepper and stir. Pour in the olive oil and mix until well combined. Let sit for 30 minutes so that the flavors blend.

*courtesy Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh of the Food Network