Salsa Verde Pork Enchilada Casserole

We had lots of leftover shredded pork after Greek pork taco night, I googled ideas for leftover shredded pork and found this one. It reminds me of my favorite chicken enchilada suizas (click here for that post - they are so good!), this uses a little cream cheese instead of sour cream and they turned out delicious. I pretty much followed the recipe, I'll note the couple little changes I made in parenthesis. I served it with a shredded lettuce, tomato, and avocado salad on the side.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups shredded pork
• 15 corn tortillas
• 1 16oz. jar of salsa verde (it's green salsa, find it in the Mexican aisle at the grocery store)
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz. shredded monterey jack cheese
• cilantro for serving  (I'd say this is optional since I forgot to add it to ours and they still tasted great!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350'.
2. Reserve 1 cup of salsa. Combine cream cheese and remaining salsa and mix well. (note: I put the cream cheese and remaining salsa in my little food processor to get it nice and smooth).
3. Wrap the tortillas between damp paper towels and microwave for 1 minute (note: I did not do this step). 
4. Spread the reserved cup of salsa in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
5. Lay 5 tortillas over the salsa, you can rip them in half to cover more of the surface if you want.
6. Spread 1/3 of the sauce on top of the tortillas.
7. Place half of the shredded pork on top.
8. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.
9. Repeat layering 5 tortillas, 1/3 of the sauce, the rest of the pork, and 1/3 of the cheese.
10. Finish with a layer of 5 tortillas, remaining sauce and cheese. (note: I made this earlier in the day, covered the pan with aluminum foil and refrigerated it for a couple hours before baking it).
11. Bake for 30 minutes, or until warmed thru and the cheese is melted. 
12. Top with chopped cilantro if you remember ;)

serves 6-8. click here to see the original recipe source

one year ago: wedding day mimosas
two years ago: getting the guest room ready

Greek Pork, Tzatziki Sauce, and Lemon Rice Pilaf

This is a beyond easy recipe for crock-pot shredded pork - adding the lemon juice and spices changed it from my standard shredded pork recipe and made for a delish Greek taco dinner (with plenty left over to make salsa verde carnitas casserole that I'll share later!). We put the pork in store-bought flatbread (or pita) like a taco, next time I want to try my hand at making the flatbread from scratch tho...topped with chopped tomatoes, feta crumbles, and tzatziki sauce, served with lemon rice pilaf. So good, and something different!

GREEK SHREDDED PORK

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds pork loin roast (not tenderloin, I think that would be too lean)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons Greek seasoning blend (or mix together oregano, onion powder, garlic powder)
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper 

Directions:

1. Place the pork in a 5-6 quart crock-pot. In a small bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients, pour over the pork. Turn the pork a few times to coat in the mixture.
2. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours (or high for 4-5 hours). Shred the pork with two forks and keep warm in the crock-pot until ready to serve.

TZATZIKI SAUCE

Mix together and refrigerate until ready to serve:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup grated or diced very small seedless cucumber 
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional, but yummy)
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• pinch of black pepper
• drizzle of olive oil

note: traditional tzatziki doesn't have feta in the sauce, you can add it tho and it's yummy - or just add feta crumbles on top of the meat in your "taco". 

LEMON RICE PILAF - this is my non-recipe version, google if you want an "actual" recipe!

In a large skillet put 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once it's hot add 3 cups of cooked brown rice and 1 cup cooked orzo, stir until it gets hot. Add a Tablespoon of Greek seasoning (or mix together oregano, onion powder, garlic powder like in the Greek pork recipe above). Once that's all combined and hot taste to see if you need more seasoning, salt and/or pepper. Add some lemon juice (I don't know how much, I kept adding until it tasted good to me - probably 1/4 cup but just add slowly and keep tasting). 

Obviously I had cooked rice and orzo in the fridge so putting this together was so quick and simple!

recipe for pork and tzatziki from melskitchencafe.com