Florida Orange Juice Carnitas Bowl
Cooking Time: 10 hours
Total Time: 10 hours 10 minutes
Enjoy the citrus twist that helps brighten the flavor of a classic carnitas bowl. It’s the perfect dinner dish – whether you’re hosting company or just craving to try a new marvelous meal.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Florida Orange Juice
- 10 – 12” Large Flour Tortillas
- 4 lb. pork shoulder skinless and boneless
- 3 teaspoons cumin
- 3 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- Pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ sweet onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded and diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Bowl ingredients
- 1 cup chopped little gems lettuce
- 2 cups charred corn
- 3 avocados, sliced
- 2 cups pickled red onions (see below)
Cilantro lime rice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cups long-grain white rice
- 6 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Finely grated zest of two limes
- 6 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 ½ cups cilantro, chopped
Pickled Red Onions
- 3 large red onions
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 3 cups water
- 2/3 cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- ¼ cup whole peppercorns
Preparation
- ¼ cup whole peppercorns
Directions:
- Clean and dry the pork shoulder thoroughly and season generously with salt and pepper.
- In a hot cast iron with oil, sear pork on all sides until browned, remove, and set aside. Add onions, jalapeño, and minced garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes, or until softened, and remove from the pan.
- Place the seared pork in the slow cooker followed by the sauteed vegetables, Florida Orange Juice, cumin, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. Cover and slow cook on low for 10 hours or high for 7 hours. When ready, pork should be tender enough to shred. Remove from the slow cooker and let cool slightly before shredding with two forks. Note: if there’s too much liquid let the juices simmer until reduced.
Cilantro-Lime Rice:
- Cook rice according to the package instructions. Once the rice is cooked add in lime juice, zest, and butter and mix until combined. Set aside until serving.
Pickled Red Onions:
- Add thinly sliced onions, garlic, and peppercorns to a mason jar and set aside.
- Heat the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve, about 1 minute. Pour hot (not boiling) vinegar mixture over the onions. Close the jar with a lid and set it aside. Cool to room temperature, then store in the fridge.
- Your pickled onions will be ready to eat once they’re bright pink and tender – about 1 hour for very thinly sliced onions, or overnight for thickly sliced onions. Pickled onions can last up to 2 weeks.
Tortilla Bowl:
- Preheat the oven to 325˚F.
- Place the tortilla into a large oven-safe bowl and mold it into a bowl. Use a second, smaller oven-safe bowl to weigh it down and maintain the bowl shape. Spray the tortilla with a light coating of cooking spray before placing it in the oven.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Bowl Assembly:
- Fill the base of the tortilla bowl with cilantro-lime rice followed by the desired amounts of cooked carnitas, charred corn, pickled onions, and avocado. Enjoy!