Pork Carnitas Crockpot Recipe

Carnitas are a great change for burritos, wraps, or salads when you're tired of turkey and chicken.

Ingredients

1 boneless pork roast
1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon ground cumin
Fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

Preparation

Place pork roast in the crockpot with 1/2 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of ground cumin and a half teaspoon of salt.
Cook on low. Check your crockpot instructions for minimum time by weight and whether the roast is fresh or frozen. I usually put it in the crockpot in the morning and cook all day, it won't overcook over a period of 8-10 hours.
When done, remove roast from crockpot.
Use a fork to pull apart the roast. Remove and toss any visible fat.
Finish the meat by tossing it with more ground cumin and with the fresh cilantro and salt to taste.
Broil or fry in a non-stick pan briefly to dry it a bit and bring out the cumin flavor.

Serving

Use as meat filling for tacos, burritos, quesadillas.
Use as a meat topping for a salad
Low carb diets: Use a high-fiber, low-carb wrap for a burrito or quesadilla, or use as meat for a salad.
Accompaniments: fresh pico de gallo, salsa, onions, green onions, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped red or green peppers, jalapenos.

Grind Your Own Cumin

To get the most flavor from cumin, roast the seeds and grind them fresh every 2 weeks. I have an electric coffee grinder I use just for spices.
Take 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds and a non-stick fry pan.
Heat on medium and stir the seeds every 30 seconds or so until they are gently browned.
Be careful they do not overcook and turn deep brown - they will continue to cook when you take them off the heat, so don't overdo it.
Grind in a coffee grinder or use a mortar and pestle.
The flavor difference is enormous, you can use far less of fresh ground cumin in a recipe than the amount needed if you buy it already ground and packaged in the supermarket.