Pork Lettuce Cups & Spanish “Rice”

It’s not my husband’s favorite thing to smoke, but it’s my favorite thing for him to make – pulled pork! When we lived in Kansas City he and a good buddy started a little competition BBQ team and everyone loved being on that cheer squad. He still loves to use his smoker(s) and we are both always looking for excuses to use them. Last weekend I asked him to smoke a pork butt – mostly because I just love using the leftovers for some of my favorite recipes. So – for this recipe, I used leftover pulled pork. Maybe in the future we will add a “secret” smoker recipe for those of you that want to try it, but I would suggest either making your pork in the slow cooker or you can typically purchase one already done at the grocery store (at least in KC anyway). Seasonings don’t really matter as we are going to change it up in this recipe. If you have one with BBQ seasoning or whatever options there are – it will be okay once we re-heat and re-season.

Let’s start with our pulled pork. I keep quart sized bags in the freezer for things just like this. You want to make sure it’s mostly thawed. Using a medium size pan, throw in a little olive oil and garlic and cook for a few minutes on medium heat, until fragrant. Then, add about 3/4 of a small can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce. You may want to roughly chop the peppers up before you throw them in the pan. I then toss in my pork. I like to pull it apart with my fingers to make sure it’s shredded and not stuck together too much. Stir this into your sauce and heat through. The Adobo peppers can be pretty spicy so depending on your level of heat tolerance you may want to adjust your amounts. I like to squeeze in 1/2 a lime, about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, paprika and some ground cumin. Adding in a little bit of dark shaved chocolate gives you taste similar to a good mole. I typically have the Williams Sonoma hot chocolate shavings on hand (I like to use them in a lot of recipes such as chili!) – I added about 1/4 cup. Lastly, add about 2 tablespoons of local honey (maybe more if you need to balance out the heat).

While your pork is heating, grab another pan and heat up some olive oil and minced garlic. Once fragrant, add in a can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos (or green chilis). Add the remainder of your can of peppers and stir together for about 2-3 minutes. Now add your riced cauliflower. I like to buy the Cece’s brand from the grocery store that is already riced for you to save time. You can find it in the refrigerated section, not frozen. Or you can grab a head of cauliflower and rice in a food processor (or chop up by hand). Stir your cauliflower into your sauce, mixing well. Add in the remainder of your small can of tomato paste, some ground cumin, paprika and squeeze in the other 1/2 of that lime. We are almost done!

We love to have some sort of guacamole, avocado or a similar sauce to put on top – you’ll probably want it to balance the heat of the peppers. This time I just mashed up some avocados, added a little lime juice, a dash of garlic and some chopped up cilantro – mixed it all together in a separate bowl.

Next, you assemble. I always use butter lettuce – it’s sweet, it wraps pretty easily and the flavor just goes perfect with this dish! If you can find it, buy the “living” lettuce. It lasts for weeks! Depending on how big your lettuce “cups” are – we usually dish about 3 per person. I scoop the pulled pork into a cup, top with some guacamole and some fresh, torn cilantro. I am a cilantro lover, for me, the more the better!