Thursday, April 24, 2014

Chipotle Pork Carnitas, PLUS Carnitas Quesadillas & Pico de Gallo



So, I am one of those people that could pretty much each Mexican food every night. No more late night trips to Taco Bell on 21-day fix, so I’ve gotta appease my tex-mex taste buds somehow.

This recipe for chipotle pork quesadillas was an instant favorite in our household. And its SO easy to make!

Chipotle Pork Quesadillas with Homemade Pico
Fix Portions: 1 red, 2 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue

Ingredients

Pork Quesadillas
·         1 pork loin
·         1 cup water
·         ¼ cup white vinegar
·         1 tsp honey
·         1 tsp lime juice
·         1-3 tsp ground chipotle pepper (depends on how spicy you want it)
·         1-3 tsp Cholula Mexican hot sauce (again depends on heat preference)
·         2 tbsp garlic powder
·         2 tbsp onion powder
·         Whole wheat tortillas
·         Shredded cheese (cheddar, cheddar jack, or Mexican blend)

Homemade Pico
·         1 large tomato, diced
·         ½ sweet or red onion, diced
·         1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
·         Handful cilantro leaves, chopped
·         Black pepper
·         1 tsp cayenne
·         Juice of 1 lime
·         1 tsp ground cumin
·         2 tsp garlic powder

Directions
1.      Combine all pico ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour prior to serving.
2.      Combine all pork ingredients (expect cheese and tortillas) in a crock-pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high for 3-4 hours), or until meat shreds apart easily
3.      Build your quesadilla:
a.       Spread Cholula hot sauce on WW tortilla
b.      Add 1 red container of pork
c.       Add ½ green container of pico
d.      Add 1 blue container of cheese
e.       Top with additional WW tortilla
f.       Cook quesadilla on both sides either in skillet or on a pizza pan or cookie sheet in oven broiler, set on high (my preferred way to cook quesadillas- perfectly crispy!)
4.      Serve with ½ green container of additional pico for dipping. You may also use plain nonfat greek yogurt as a replacement to sour cream if you like (just add another red serving to your portion tally). 


P.S. Speaking of Chipotle, did you know you could eat at Chipotle (the restaurant) on the 21-day fix? Yes its true- I may or may not have eaten there 2 days in a row last week :)... Here's what you need to order: Burrito bowl with brown rice (yellow), black beans (yellow), pico and lettuce (green), cheese (blue), meat of choice (red), and if you are brave hot sauce... Now, only eat 1/2 the bowl at a time, and remember you might have to save up some color portions throughout the day to account for it (i.e. those darn yellows), but it will be SO worth it!




Interested in trying the 21-Day Fix for yourself? For more information, please click here or visit www.beachbodycoach.com/melheywardfitness

10 comments:

  1. How many pounds of pork did you use?

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    1. I usually buy the giant pork loins at Costco and cut them into 4 or 5 individual loins... If I had to guess, I would say 1 or 2 pounds each... The way the pork cooks, the liquid in the crockpot sort of steams the meat, so if you use more or less meat, it will still turn out the same- you can always drain any excess liquid if you need to- as long as it fits in your crockpot, you should be good. Hope that helps!

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  2. what size tortillas are these? you get all 4 pieces as ONE serving for each container listed?

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    1. Correct. For each full quesadilla you check off 1 red, 2 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue. I usually buy the Mission Whole Wheat tortillas because I like their flavor and texture best- I think they are available in 8 and 10 inch, depending on the grocery store.

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  3. Just wondering... my book says pico de gallo is a purple container......Which one is correct?

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    1. What page are looking at? I have the original version of the book and can't seem to find it mentioned in there. I know Autumn recently posted on Instagram that tomatoes should be counted as green not purple...tomatoes are listed as green in my book as well, so I wonder if there was a version published in the past year that said something different?

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  4. Approximately how many servings/quesadillas would this be?

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    1. You get one full quesadilla for the portions listed at the top of the recipe, but the recipe itself should yield enough pork and pico for about 4 quesadillas I would say

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  5. This recipe looks delicious! However, there are a couple of things that I think need a little readjusting. A 6" WW tortilla = 1 yellow container. So if you are using TWO of the 8 or 10 inch tortillas, the count would be higher than just 2 yellows, right?

    Secondly, about the pico- from what I am gathering from other blogs/posts (because I was wondering the same thing!:-) if you use store bought salsa, it would be considered a purple because the tomatoes are cooked and therefor sweeter. If you use home made salsa (pico) it is considered a green container. I hope that helps a little! I have hit a wall for meal ideas and I'm (GASP!!) getting a little sick of chicken. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this recipe! Pork Loin in the crockpot is delicious! Thank you for this little gem!

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