Leftover Mexican Food turned into Breakfast for Dinner? Yes, please!

I have found a deeply rooted, insatiable love for carnitas since moving to the west coast. For those who don't know what that is, carnitas is this lovely roasted pork served slightly crispy on the outside but melts in your mouth when you eat it. Pretty much anytime we go out for Mexican food now, that's what I get.

The other night my wonderful husband took me out to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Seaside and what did I get? Yes! Wonderful, crispy, luscious carnitas with beans and rice! AND IT WAS HUGE! I could only eat one piece of the carnitas (of the three on the plate) before we had to pack it up and bring the rest home. After a day of laundry and cleaning, the last thing I wanted to do tonight was spend a lot of time preparing dinner for my soldier, so I came up with an idea of what to do with my leftovers.

"Babe," I said timidly. "What are you in the mood for dinner wise tonight?"
"I don't care." (Don't you love that answer!)
"Well..." I continued, "I was thinking about kind of reusing my leftovers...maybe add some cheese and salsa and stuff?"
"Um....ok."

So here ya go: Leftover Mexican Carnitas turned into Breakfast for Dinner 

leftover carnitas, rice, beans

corn tortillas (optional)

4 eggs

shredded colby jack cheese, to taste

fat free sour cream

salsa verde (I used a lime and garlic kind)

salt

pepper

paprika

Take your leftover carnitas and shred it up by hand. Throw it in a pan over medium heat and season with the salt, pepper and paprika. Bring it up to temp until its just sizzling in the pan. Meanwhile, in a bowl scramble the eggs (I also added a splash of milk because thats how I was raised to cook scrambled eggs). 

Once the meat is up to temp, add the beans and rice and give it a few turns in the pan. Then add the eggs. At this point, it was looking a little funky and I was thinking we'd be hitting up the BK drive thru but, I continued. I tossed the meat and eggs until the eggs were done and it kind of resembled this yellow and brown hash type dish. Again, I was thinking about that burger but from the living room I heard "That smells really good babe!" 

Shred as much cheese as you think you will need. Throw the corn tortillas into the microwave for 15-20 seconds to heat them up and make them a bit more pliable. Plate some of the carnitas hash, top with cheese, sour cream and the salsa verde. Serve with the corn tortillas on the side. 

Then came the acid test. I handed my husband his plate and sat down to mine. "What did you do to it," he asked in a very skeptical, suspicious sort of way. I explained the process and held my breath....

"This is really good!" 

And I knew I was safe. He even stopped playing his nightly COD game to eat and seriously considered going for seconds. I will admit, even I was surprised by how good it came out. I didn't use the corn tortillas to eat mine but don't worry, it didn't go to waste. He at them for me. 

Overall, this is a VERY filling, very high protein dish. Next time I have leftover carnitas I know this is how its going to be redone. You could probably use any leftover meat in the same way, maybe change the toppings to suit the meat or leftovers you are using. 

So the husband was happy and full. I was happy and full. And there was just enough left over I might be able to snake my way out of making breakfast for him tomorrow morning! 

Thanks for reading and enjoy!! 

Roast Pork and Mashed "Potatoes"

Let me just begin by saying this: chopping up cauliflower is neither easy or neat. In fact, not having really cooked with it before, I was surprised by how uncooperative a vegetable it is. However, steamed, spiced and whipped up, its a darn good substitution for mashed potatoes. I owe this to my mom. Last time I was at her house she made it for me (but without the spices) and I was inspired.

So after returning to California after a two week trip to North Carolina, I decided to make my husband a tasty meal with only meat and veggies. He's always harassing me that I need to eat more vegetables so I figured this would be one meal he couldn't complain about. 

I grabbed the pork shoulder I had out of the freezer and set to my task! The recipe is as follows:

For the Pork: 

1 8lb. pork shoulder

salt

fresh ground pepper

For the Mashed "Potatoes":

1 head of fresh cauliflower 

milk or half & half

1 clove fresh garlic

salt

fresh ground pepper

butter (or margarine) 

For the pork shoulder, throw it in a pan at 350 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature or for about 3 hours. (I have one of those fancy thermometers that you can stick in the meat and the cord runs out of the oven so you can see what the temperature is and set it to alert you at a certain time or temp.) And should all go well, you should have something that looks like this:

(Forgive my picture quality. The only camera I've got right now is my iPhone.)

For the mashed "potatoes", cut the cauliflower off the stem and into pieces. Steam it until it is soft whichever way you want. You can do it in a pot on the stove, or throw it in a bowl with a little water in the microwave. Either way you're going to add some flavor to it, so however you steam it, that will work just fine! 

Once it is steamed, throw it in the food processor. Add the garlic. Rather than spend the time mincing my garlic by hand, I use a garlic press. Its the one miscellaneous kitchen gadget EVERY cook should have! But add the garlic, a little butter, salt and pepper and a dash or two of milk or half & half. Don't add to much milk because you can always add more but can never take away! 

Press go on the food processor and taste test it. Add more garlic or salt or milk. Just depends on your personal preference (and we are heavy garlic lovers in this house). And you should have this: 

(Again forgive picture quality, please.)

With the finished pork and the mashed "potatoes", I decided the vegetable quota wasn't high enough so I added some corn to the menu and a nice crusty roll of sourdough bread. 

And voila! Our meat and veggies dinner was done! Even the husband didn't have much to complain about. Not that he ever does! He's my taste-tester! 

Overall, it's not a complicated recipe. It's simple but tasty and pretty easy to whip up on a weeknight if you have the afternoon free for the pork. 

Enjoy!!