June 22, 2016
I have realised a lot of things about myself since moving to Melbourne. Rather than making this a blog about personal development and Instagram word quotes though, I’m just going to talk about what I love best: food. And the biggest realization that I’ve had about myself is that as soon as the temperature goes down, I become obsessed with eating. I know this isn’t really anything new to most people, but to me it is a big deal. I found when I lived in Brisbane that I was able to easily stop myself from eating unhealthy food, but now that I live in a colder climate it is a daily struggle. I am finding it increasingly difficult to stop myself from eating warming dishes such as pasta, or eating and drinking chocolate (hot chocolates have become a regular occurrence in my weekend). I know it’s not the end of the world, but it is becoming a problem.
I find that when I am faced with my lunch of a cold salad which I would normally be totally fine with eating, I am not the least bit excited. All I want to do is head out and order something really warm, which generally leads to cravings of chips, or stews, or lasagna, or all of the above. So I’ve realised that to counter this I need to start cooking meals that are both healthy, but also satisfy my craving for warm, delicious food. Salads just aren’t going to cut it in the current temperatures of Melbourne, not unless I can have them with something really tasty and hearty.
Enter the slow cooker. I am lucky enough that my roommate already has one that she doesn’t get much use out of because she is a vegetarian and doesn’t have a real need for something designed to slow cook meats. So she has been nice enough to let me use it in my hunt for the perfect healthy winter food. So the past couple of weeks every weekend I’ve been trying out a different recipe in the slow cooker, which has actually been really fun. There’s something about putting a whole heap of ingredients into a pot and allowing it to cook for hours, filling the apartment with delicious smells and resulting in a delicious meal at the end. It’s really rewarding cooking, and it gives me something to do on my weekend that I really enjoy. It also means that, because you have to cook in bulk, you get delicious meals for the week, which results in me being less likely to eat out. I love a good meal prep, especially when it isn’t just broccoli and steamed chicken!
Some people I know are a little afraid of slow cooking, and I have to admit I was one of them at first. But it’s actually really simple, easy and quick to prepare. Once you have seared off your meat, you literally just add all the ingredients in together and leave it for hours to do its thing. It is literally one of the laziest cooking processes ever, and so should really be the least scary of all. You literally just leave it to cook while you have all this time up your sleeve for other activities, and then at the end you get rewarded for your lack of effort with delicious food. How good is that?
So I’ve tried a few recipes, but this week I remembered that my sister always used to cook this delicious pulled pork in the slow cooker. It was so tasty, and really healthy, which was exactly what I was looking for in a recipe for this project. So I got the recipe off her and decided to give it a go last weekend. As the smells filled my apartment, it started to feel like home, which was a really nice feeling on a weekend where I was feeling a bit lonely.
The resulting pulled pork was absolutely delicious, and exactly how I remembered it. Although it isn’t a classic, saucy pulled pork that you’d get from an American restaurant or food truck, it is still full of delicious flavour from a whole heap of spices. Plus, it is a lot better for you, which means you don’t need to feel guilty eating it, unlike when I order takeout from my local American restaurant (they do have really good pulled pork, but if I ate it every day I would be the size of a house). I always find it great when you can make a take on a traditional recipe that is actually really good for you. Plus, it ticked all the boxes of being a super delicious, warming winter meal. There’s something about slow cooking that screams winter comfort food, and this was exactly what I needed this week.
- 1-1.5 kg of pork shoulder I did a boneless one
- 3 teaspoons of smoked paprika
- 3 teaspoons of sea salt
- 1 and ½ teaspoons of ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of all spice
- 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ cups of vegetable stock
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves minced
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Firstly, if the pork shoulder has skin on it, remove the skin with a knife. Either put the skin in the bin or reserve to make crackling later (I was very tempted to do this). Put the remaining pork shoulder in a medium bowl.
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To the bowl, add the paprika, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, ground cumin, all spice and chilli flakes. Using your fingers, cover the pork evenly in the spice mix, ensuring you really rub it in to the entire shoulder. Cover with glad wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to soak up the flavours.
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Once the pork is ready, heat the coconut oil in a fry pan on a medium heat. Place the pork in the fry pan and brown on all sides. Once it is completely brown, remove from heat and place in the slow cooker.
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To the slow cooker add the bay leaves, stock, tomatoes and garlic. Cover with the lid and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8 hours.
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When the pork is ready, pull apart in the slow cooker with two forks. This should be really easy once the meat is cooked; it should just fall apart.
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Serve with salad, in tortillas with all the condiments, or as a burrito bowl with fresh veggies and salsa.
And that’s really all there is to it. Not only is this recipe really easy and simple, it doesn’t involve that many ingredients! Once you have the spice rub all sorted, you are practically ready to go. I love the simplicity of this slow cooker meal as well, as you don’t need to chop up any vegetables or anything to go in with the meat, so it really is something you can just chuck on. Then you just leave it to do its thing, and in 5 hours you have a delicious meal ready to go!
This is a super healthy alternative to regular pulled pork, and it doesn’t compromise on flavour. The spices make it really punchy, and the resulting dish was absolutely delicious. You would think that for how delicious it was that it would have more complicated ingredients. Even though I didn’t have a couple of ingredients from the original recipe, I think that the compromise didn’t lack flavour at all and I certainly didn’t miss what I left out! I love that slow cooking really allows you to just add in what you have on hand and the slow cooking process just seems to make everything taste amazing.
This is an incredibly versatile meal, which means you can eat it regardless of what you feel like. As I’m trying to be healthy I had it over the top of a salad, but you could easily put it into tortillas for a Mexican feast with sour cream, guacamole and cheese. Or you could simply have it on bread as a pulled pork roll. You could even just have it on its own with some steamed vegetables. The flavours speak for themselves and so you really can do what you like with the pulled pork once it is cooked!
I will definitely be keeping this recipe on hand for the cold winter months to come. It was so easy to make and for something so delicious, it was really healthy. I actually looked forward to eating my lunch this week, which is a welcome change from the cravings I’ve been having of late for hot food.
What is your winter comfort meal alternative? I feel like I’m on a slow cooker roll and I can’t wait to keep experimenting!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
