Jerk Pork - Taste of Jamaica -Dinner Travels

Hey hey!!

Man, this semester of school has really got me swamped! I have had at least three papers due every week for the last five weeks!! Can you believe that?!?!
But - there is a light at the end of the tunnel...today starts the last full week before finals! Woohoo!

If you are on my Facebook Page or Instagram, you have been able to see some peeks into our daily life. This week, we are travelling the globe right from home! I have different dinners planned each night that are from different parts of the world. Monday night, we had a little taste of Jamaica with some jerk pork. Monday's are soccer days, so I wanted to have something that was ready when the kids got home from school, so I prepared this in the crock pot.

Let me tell you a little money-saving secret of mine... I shop for spices in the International Foods aisle! The Badia brand of seasonings and spices is my go to. They come in large containers and are priced SO amazing. I picked up some of this jerk seasoning for around $2! You just can't beat that!

For the pork, I used a 3-4lb. pork loin (not a tenderloin), jerk seasoning, garlic, lime, & orange juice. I put the pork into my crockpot, and added about 1/2 cup orange juice, 4 cloves of crushed garlic, the juice from one lime, and 3 tablespoons of the jerk seasoning. That's it. Easy peasy. Covered and cooked on low for about 8 hours.

About thirty minutes before we were ready to eat, I made some brown rice. I didn't add anything to this since I know I would be putting the meat on top.

This is where things get crazy...I originally planned on making a mango salsa to go with this since I saw it in this post. However, there are no mangoes in sight at my local grocery store, and my family doesn't love them enough for me to want to hunt some down. Also,the avocados were looking really sad the day I shopped. I originally thought I would just skip the fresh salsa part, and maybe have a salad or something. While I was finishing up the rice, I remembered that we had one lonely corn on the cob leftover from grilling over the weekend. I also had some red bell peppers on hand for Tuesday night's dinner! I threw some canola oil in a pan and got it hot. Then, I cut the corn off the cob right into the pan and added half of my red pepper, sprinkled on some salt & pepper, added some cilantro, and squeezed one more lime into the pan.

Let me just tell you...this meal was DELICIOUS!!!
It  is going down in my permanent files, and will be made again soon! The entire family loved it!

Here is the full recipe! Let me know if you try it!

Pork

* 3-4 lb. pork loin
* 3 Tablespoons jerk seasoning
* 4 cloves crushed garlic
* 1/2 cup orange juice
* juice of one lime

Cooked Brown Rice

Corn Salsa 

* One ear of corn, scraped from cob (frozen could work, also!)
* 1/2 red bell pepper
* Salt & pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
* juice of one lime

Directions

* Place pork in slow cooker. Add crushed garlic, jerk seasoning, orange juice, and lime juice. Cover and cook on low 8 hours. Shred in pot.
* About 30 minutes before serving time, cook rice.
* About 10 minutes before serving time, heat pan with 1 Tablespoon oil. Add corn and bell peppers. Season with sale and pepper. Cook until tender-crisp. Add juice from lime and cilantro.
* To serve: add rice to center of plate, top with pork and salsa.
* ENJOY!

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

     We recently attended a birthday party where this salsa was served. It reminded me how much I love it and how long it has been since I have eaten it. It also made me want to make some immediately! I have made one version before with avocado in it. I love it, but it makes a lot, and I wanted to have extra to save. Just in case you are unaware- avocados don't save well! I usually make this one for parties where there will be lots of people to eat it.  So- I started looking for other recipes without the avocado. I couldn't find one that seemed to look perfect. Then, I thought- "Why not just wing it?!" So I did. I even got a helper, so we were able to mark it as HomeEc learning time for school! :)
This is what we did:

First we gathered all our ingredients. Also included are a can or corn and a can of black beans, both rinsed and drained.
I will have all the specifics listed below :)

I had my helper scoop out all the inside of the tomato. We used a measuring spoon to get everything out in one scoop! It worked great! (1/2Tbsp size was perfect!)

 

 

We got everything chopped and added to a big bowl! ( I seriously could have just eaten it like this!)
But I didnt....

We juiced one lime over everything and gave it all a good mix. I also added a little bit of salt and pepper. Just a little.
That is all! We had enough for us to snack on, plus two jars for later! J was even excited to get his own photo of his bowl! :)

This is what we used:

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
5 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 jalapenos, seeded and diced (This was not hot at all, so it could vary)
1 onion, diced
about 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
tortilla chips

Add everything to a bowl and mix well!
We ate some right away, but it is even better if you can refrigerate it for a bit first! (I clearly don't have the willpower for that!)

This makes a great salsa to eat with chips. It can also be used as a topping for chicken, tacos, rice, or anything else you can think to add it to!

Let me know what you think!