I’m gonna go ahead and say it; we eat a LOT of tacos at our house! And not even just at the house, we eat tacos when we go out to eat, too! There’s nothing better than a toasted corn tortilla filled with flavorful meat, topped with whatever delicious other things you like. My boys love Al Pastor, so I figured I’d give it a go. I made the marinade, let the pork chunks bathe in it for 2 days and then we skewered it up and threw them on the Traeger with some pineapple, red onion, and sweet peppers. I also made smashed pinto beans and cilantro rice to go with it. To be honest, I’m not sure it was a totally accurate Al Pastor flavor, but it was definitely delicious!!!
For the Al Pastor:
2 oz. dried guajillo chilies
½ cup garlic
1 large onion, roughly chopped
Juice of 2 large oranges
½ cup white vinegar
Juice from one large can of pineapple slices
2 T oregano
2 T cinnamon
2 T cumin
1 T salt
3 T achiote paste
Roughly 3 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized chunks
Soak the guajillo chilies in water for 5-6 hours. Pull the stems, seeds, and membranes out. Put all ingredients, except the pork into the blender and blend until liquid. If needed, add a bit of water. Add the pork to the marinade and let it marinate at least overnight. Skewer the chunks and throw them on the Traeger, the grill, or in the broiler. We smoked them for an hour and then turned up the temp until the meat was firm and cooked through. Serve with grilled veggies, smashed beans, and cilantro rice (recipes below).
For the Veggies:
1 lb of sweet peppers, I get the bag of red, yellow and orange
1 large red onion
1 large can of pineapple slices
Rough chop the veggies, toss a little olive oil and garlic salt in and throw them on the grill. We have a veg tray for the grill that works great! Or you can put the veggies on the skewers with the meat.
For the beans:
1 lb bag dried pinto beans (black beans will work with this, too!)
1 large white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T oregano
1 T cumin
Garlic salt and black pepper to taste
Add the dry beans to a large sauce pot. Sort the beans well, look for dirt clods and shriveled beans and discard. Rinse the beans 2-3 times, until the water runs clear. Fill the pot, covering the beans at least 2x over. Cook over high until they start to boil. You can add all the ingredients at any time during this process, but keep the salt and pepper until the end. Once it starts to boil, turn the heat to medium-ish and stir often. Add water as needed, until the beans are soft. I use a slotted spoon, and as the beans get soft, I sort of smash them while cooking. It gives a refried bean texture without the fried part, or you can leave them whole. When the beans are soft enough, season w salt a pepper.
For the rice:
2 cups Jasmine rice
3 T olive oil
2 T Al Pastor marinade
4 T La Victoria green taco sauce (seriously, this stuff is magical on all the things!!!)
1/4 cup cilantro
2-4 cups water/broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute the dry rice in the olive oil until it’s solid white, and even bordering on toasted. Add the sauces and 1 cup water. Stir constantly. Keep adding water as the rice absorbs it. Once the rice is soft, season with salt, cumin and pepper and add the cilantro at the very end.
Leave a Reply