Slow Cooker Shredded Pork Tacos with Slaw

My slow cooker fascination is, I believe, by now well documented. And the cabbage fixation is moving along well also, so that’s good. The truth of the matter is that I’m not actually obsessed with pork, but recently Nick very wisely took advantage of a two-for-one sale at the local Acme, and thus we had two pork roasts on our hands.

Obviously I was going to do them in the slow cooker and serve them with cabbage. At the same time, I wanted variety. So while one day I made Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Sweet & Sour Cabbage and Sweet Potatoes, the other day I did Slow Cooker Shredded Pork Tacos with Slaw. Both, by the way, were amazing, and resulted in lots of leftovers! Which is one of the big reasons why I do so love that slow cooker.

The pork recipe came from Slow Cooker Revolution, brought to us by The Editors at America’s Test Kitchen. It was simple and delicious, and made a surprisingly huge amount of filling. (Yay!)

While the pork oh so slowly turned gloriously flavorful and fork tender, I made one of my favorite cabbage salads, adapted from this recipe: Southwestern Slaw. Sliced radishes and avocado rounded out the crunch and added unctuousness. I can get fresh tortillas, because I’m super lucky (Tortilleria San Roman at the Italian Market, if you're in Philly), and these do take a taco to the next level. But all tacos, even those from the supermarket, can be vastly improved if you nuke the tortilla for about 8 seconds before adding any filling.

Shredded Pork for Tacos
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

2 onions, chopped
¼ c chili powder
3 T veg oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 minced chipotle pepper in adobo, plus some adobo sauce (spicy as well as flavorful, so add with caution)
1 T ground coriander
1 T groud cumin
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
2 t sugar
3-lb pork roast, cut in half
Salt and pepper

1. Put onions, chili powder, oil, garlic, chipotle, coriander, and cumin in a bowl and microwave for 5 minutes, until the onions are slightly softened. Dump in slow cooker. 
2. Add tomato sauce and sugar to slow cooker; stir to combine. 
3. Salt and pepper the pork pieces, and settle them in the slow cooker. Make sure they are well coated in the sauce. Cook for 4-5 hours on high.
4. Shred pork with two forks (seriously, it will be so tender). Add about 2 cups of the braising liquid to the pork, depending on your desired texture. Put the rest of the braising liquid in a bowl and use it as sauce. 

Cabbage Slaw for Tacos
Adapted from Epicurious.com

½ small cabbage or ¼ large cabbage, shredded (I used regular green, but purple or even savoy would be great)
Juice from 1 lime
2 t honey
½ small onion, minced
2 t minced jalapeno
Salt

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl. Ideally, let sit for at least a half hour to let the flavors combine (and up to a day in the fridge). But you can eat it at once if necessary.

Tacos!

Tortillas, heated in microwave
Shredded pork
Pork braising sauce
Cabbage slaw
Radishes, sliced thin
Avocado, sliced thick
Lime, cut into wedges

Assemble pork, braising sauce, slaw, radishes, and avocado on heated tortilla. Spritz some juice from a lime wedge over it all. Devour. Have another.