Picante!

Though the weather is not agreeing with me yet, I’ve been in the mood to move on seasonally with the cooking.  It’s not time to grill out yet, but that looms.  There’s a reason Cinco de Mayo is such a big deal here.  Okay, two reasons.  The reason I look forward to May 5 is it’s a perfect first BBQ kind of holiday here.  (It’s a nice excuse to whip up some Sangria, too, don’t get me wrong!)

Anyhoo, I’ve been wanting braised wintery sides less and summery dishes more… crunchy, fresh tasting stuff.

One of my favorite barely any work at all dinners is Crock Carnitas.  I love a meal you slam in the crockpot in the morning and, to keep the lazy vibe going, I decided to make a  no-cooking side last time.  I love Carolina bbq with creamy slaw, so I thought I’d take that idea and change it a little. (Note: perhaps it’s my crock pot, but I find the above recipe comes out a little soupy.  It’s easy to ‘fix’ that, though – I take off the lid and let ‘er rip, cooking down on high while I prepare the sides and toppings.)

This was super simple, and great with the carnitas.  I took a bag of broccoli slaw mix, added a couple of cups of sliced snap peas, some lime juice, cilantro, and perhaps 1/2 c jarred salsa verde and mixed well, then added a little plain yogurt to cool it down a little bit.  I find I like slaw to sit a little while—just 15-30 mins—to loosen up, so I made this first, then prepped a few toppings for the carnitas wraps.  This is a great ‘serve yourself’ meal for the older kid and adults, making for even less work in a ‘be lazy’ dinner.

Yum.