Technique- “Pulling” Meat For Paleo Carnitas

If you’re a regular reader, you already know that I love incorporating The Paleo Diet into all different types of regional cuisine.

Recently, I received an inquiry about whether there was an alternative to ordering fajitas while dining at Mexican Restaurants.  Yes- CARNITAS!

Granted, the type of place you visit can vary so much as far as what they’re using in their own particular recipe, but it’s VERY easy to use lean cuts of meat (like pork tenderloin) and make a PALEO version of carnitas at home!

-Cut raw pork tenderloin into 1″ cubes.  (I used 1.5# for myself and my husband for dinner, and to provide leftovers for lunch the next day, and then some!).

-Place in a stock pot with a chopped yellow onion, some garlic, 5 or 6 cups of water and some oregano.

-Boil, then reduce to simmer for about 90 minutes.

-Remove pork, reserve one cup of liquid and discard the onions and rest of the liquid.

-Using a potato masher (or something along the same lines- you can even use a large spoon), mash the cooked pork until it becomes stringy:

(Incidentally, this is a great recipe to make with the kids- they’ll enjoy ‘mashing up the meat’ and do quite a good job of it!)

 

Add a chopped onion, a bit of olive oil and saute for about 10 minutes.  

Then, add a cup of pureed tomato, a few bay leaves, some dried oregano and the cup of liquid that you saved from earlier, let simmer until slightly reduced:

Serve with salad and fresh veg- topped with cilantro and lime.  Who needs tortillas and sour cream?