I love cooking in a crockpot – especially in the winter. It’s wonderful to put something together in the morning before leaving the house and come home to a cooked meal, ready to eat. This recipe is strongly South Western based and is super flexible. Serve it as is as a fantastic one-bowl meal … or use the ingredients (maybe with some black beans added) to make a burrito or to fill tacos.

Start with a 2lb pork loin. Our grocery store puts them on sale every so often for $1.99/lb and I’ll stock up on the 1-2lb sizes and freeze them. Brown the pork loin in a little canola oil in a hot skillet. It’s easier for me to cut the loin in half so that it fits in my 12″ cast iron skillet.

Once the loin is browned on all sides, move it to your crockpot and add 1 medium yellow onion to the skillet. Be sure and scrape up all the yummy browned bits on the bottom of the pan as the onions cook.  Add the onions to the crock pot.

Then add the following: 1 can Hatch’s Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, 1 can Ro-tel Tomatoes, and 1 can diced green chiles.

Let this cook for 5 hours on low. You want the pork to be so tender that you can pull it apart with a fork. When it’s done, you’ll have a good bit of liquid in the pot as well … stay tuned because we’ll be using this!

Remove the pork from the pot and set it aside for a minute. Then measure out ~1.5 cups of the liquid and tomato/chile bits. Add them to a cup of rice and another 1/2 cup of water in a saucepot.

Bring the rice to a boil and then lower the heat as low as you can get it, cover, and cook for 20 mins, until the rice is done. Fluff with a fork.

In the meanwhile while the rice is cooking, you can pour off the remaining liquid into a smaller sauce pan and simmer it until reduced by about half. (You don’t have to do this, but I love the rich creaminess of the thickened sauce.)

Finally, while you’re waiting for the rice to cook and the sauce to thicken, shred the pork loin with a fork (or your fingers).

Finally, serve the shredded pork, over a scoop of rice, topped with a little of the thickened sauce and a few slices of avocado.

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Southwestern Pork Loin w/ Green Chiles

• 2 lb pork loin
• 1 15-oz can Hatch’s Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
• 1 15-oz can Ro-Tel tomatoes (original or hot, if you prefer)
• 1 6-oz can diced green chiles
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup rice

Brown the pork loin in the canola oil in a hot skillet until brown and crusty. Remove the loin and put it in your crock pot and brown the onions in the skillet, being sure to scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the skillet.

Add the onions to the crock pot, then add the cans of enchilada sauce, Ro-Tel, and diced green chile.  Cook on low for 5 hours or until the pork loin is fork tender.

Remove the loin from the pot and let it rest for a few minutes before shredding it with a fork.

Use 1.5 cups of the liquid from the crock pot and an additional 1/2 cup of water to cook the rice in a separate sauce pot.  (Bring the rice to a boil in the liquid, then reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 20 mins.)

Simmer the remaining liquid in a small pot until reduced by half.

Serve the shredded pork over the rice, topped with a little of the reduced sauce.  Garnish with some slices of avocado and cilantro, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional values (4 oz of loin and 1/2 cup of sauce w/out the rice):
Cals 202 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 7.5g | Carbs: 12g

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