Crock Pot Pork Carnitas (Naturally Gluten, Dairy and Nut Free)

Since we purchased our new home in January, I've been trying to find even more ways to save money. Because we eat most of our meals at home, the grocery store is the place where I can try to make the biggest gains in money saved. This focus has inspired me to try to be even more flexible in what I purchase and when. Meat is one way that I've found I can save a lot of money, buy it when it's marked down and freeze it for another day. This approach has also required me to become even more creative in the kitchen. 


My latest challenge comes from country style pork spareribs. The naming of this cut of pork is truly a misnomer as it truly looks like the butcher took a piece of fairly lean pork and cut it into long slim chunks. There is no "rib" bone, these do not look anything like your traditional baby back pork ribs that you think of when you hear that little jingle from Chili's restaurant chain. These are quite simply hunks of meat that are just waiting for divine inspiration. 


My first attempt for these is going to be carnitas. My thought is that I can serve these lots of ways:  as tacos with the traditional fixings, as burritos with the shell made from a gluten free crepe, over rice or even along side morning eggs or with a little BBQ sauce added to make pork sammies (served on a gluten free bun, of course). I see endless possibilities. 


As usual, I did a general recipe search, found one I liked and used it as a basis for my own spin. Here's the recipe I started with, my rif on this crock pot dish is below. 


~Enjoy




Crock Pot Carnitas

• 1 large carrot, cut into large chunks
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/2 medium to large onion, cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp chicken soup base
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp agave syrup
• 2 tbsp lime juice

Combine all dried and ground spices in a small jar. Crush the dried herbs as best you can to release some of their flavor. Place veggies on the bottom of the crock to create a layer of aromatics. Top the vegetables with water and then add the pork pieces in a single layer. Sprinkle with the spice mixture and add the garlic  spreading it evenly over the layer. If you have too much pork to make one layer, do one layer at a time adding spices to each layer as you go. When you have all of the pork spiced. Add agave and chicken soup base. Plug in crock pot and allow to cook undisturbed for 8 hours.