Pork Shoulder with Tomatillos & Pickled Peppers

I got this recipe from my Aunt Michelle while on vacation and have already made it since I back home. It's so fast and tasty! You can adjust the amount of jalapenos if you don't like spicy food. Enjoy!

1 1/2 lb (10-12) medium tomatillos cut into 1/2 in. pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 pickled jalapenos, seeded & chopped (~1/3 of 12 oz jar)
1/2 C chopped cilantro
1 1/2 - 2 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 in. pieces
1 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
2 15 oz. cans Northern White Beans
1/2 tsp sugar, more if needed

Put cubed tomatillos in slow cooker & smooth out layer. Sprinkle jalapenos and 1/2 cilantro over the top. Add 1 1/2 tsp salt and garlic. In a large bowl toss pork with Worchestershire until well covered. Distribute meat over tomatillos. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours. Remove pork to a bowl. Ladle sauce into a blender, add rest of cilantro and puree. Put back in cooker. Add drained beans, salt if needed, and water if sauce is too thick. If too tart, add sugar. Return meat to sauce and beans and heat through. Serve over your favorite rice.

Alternative:
I made a smoked pork tenderloin a few days ago and wasn't thrilled with how it turned out, so I needed to transform the tenderloin into something I was willing to eat. So, instead of using a pork shoulder with this recipe I used the leftover tenderloin. I made the salsa verde (tomatillo sauce) in a saucepan instead of the slowcooker. Icoated the meat in the Worchestershire, but didn't add it to the salsa until after I had pureed it and returned it to the saucepan. The meal was ready in about 45 minutes, versus the 6 hours required for the shoulder. It turned out just as tasty as, albeit a little less tender than, the slowercooker version.

Reinventing Lefovers

We've all been there, your carefully crafted dinner was good the first night, maybe even the second time, but the third time is hard to palette. The dilemma: what can you do with leftovers once you're bored of them? Well, I just might have an answer (or two). Recently I have been surprising myself with my ability to reinvent leftovers, so I've decided to post some of my more successful attempts here.

First Meal: Barbeque Pork Chops (these were actually leftovers from a meal out)

Second Meal: Barbeque Pork Carnitas
Leftover barbequed pork chops, meat pulled away from the bone and thinly sliced
2 C white rice
2 C water (if using rice cooker, otherwise follow package directions)
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice, divided
1 can black beans, rinsed
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the rice and water in the rice cooker with 1 Tbsp olive oil, cilantro and 1 Tbsp lime juice.
Heat the beans over low heat with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp lime juice, cayenne pepper and cumin. Heat until warm, about 10 minutes.
Assemble the rice, beans, meat and cheese in a tortilla as desired. Top with salsa and guacamole (optional).

*I ate this for dinner and then ate the ingredients as a "bowl" (without the tortilla) for lunch the following day.