Pork Carnitas over Mexican Cauliflower Rice

This pork carnita recipe is AMAZING. You must try! I used pork loin, so next time I need to try this with pork butt as the recipe calls for, but it still turned out so good. The original recipe prepares this in a dutch oven, but I tried it out using my crockpot and had success. If you make this, do not forget or overlook boiling the remaining cooking liquid! Pouring that thickened sauce back onto the pork really completed the carnitas. Also, I do have to point out that I finally made a cauliflower rice that wasn't plain Jane. The Mexican Cauliflower Rice recipe was equally as delicious and a good pairing with the carnitas. Let me know what you think if you make either of these recipes!

Pork Carnitas
Ingredients:

• 4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tb fresh lime juice
• 2 C water
• 1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours.
2. Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan. Remove and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until it thickens and syrupy, about 20 - 30 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.
3. While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has reduced, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.
4. Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. 
5. Crockpot version: Follow the same directions as above, but use 1 and 1/2 cup water instead of 2. I cooked it on low for 8 hours. When done, scoop out the orange, onion, and bay leaves, then spread the pork onto a foil lined pan and pour the sauce into a pot on the stove...Follow directions above.

Original recipe found here

Mexican Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients:

• 3 cups raw cauliflower rice
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup finely diced zucchini (optional)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (optional)
• 1 Tbsp fajita seasoning (Homemade paleo fajita seasoning I made)
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet on high heat. Add cauliflower, onion, zucchini, bell pepper and fajita seasoning and mix well.
2. Mix in the tomato paste until evenly distributed and then spread the rice evenly over the skillet and let cook until it starts to brown, 3-5 minutes.
3. Once the bottom starts to brown, stir the rice, even it out again and let bottom brown again. Repeat 3-4 times. The longer it cooks, the more quickly the bottom will brown.
4. Once it is cooked through, and browned to your liking, stir in the chopped cilantro and serve hot.
5. Enjoy!

 Original recipe found here