Pineapple & Pulled Pork Cilantro Lime Rice Bowl

Soon after we sent out our Grilling themed Cajun Crate for the month of June, we had major rain from tropical storm Cindy. The rain had us cooking inside, but we were still able to make some great dishes including oven roasted pulled pork.

We got our recipe on how to make pulled pork with Mexi-Cajun Seasoning and Dr. Pepper from the Mexi-Cajun blog. Usually we would make Tacos but since last month was fiesta themed, we decided to do something a little different. 

I grabbed some Cajun Country Popcorn Rice and the rice cooker and made some cilantro lime rice. I'm pretty sure we are dependent on our rice cooker but we try to include directions for how to cook the rice with or without a rice cooker. And if you don't have a rice cooker - get one! A rice cooker is a must in any Cajun kitchen.

Pulled Pork 

Ingredients

• Mexi-Cajun Seasoning
• Boston But (about 4 pounds)
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 24 ounces of Dr Pepper (or any dark cola or beer) 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.  

Liberally coat roast with Mexi-Cajun Seasoning on all sides.

In a large oven-proof roaster (we used cast iron dutch oven) add pork roast, fat side down.  Over med-hi heat, sear roast until the fat begins to render out and the cooked side begins to darken.  Continue to sear on all sides until there are dark sear marks all over the roast. (It will almost look burnt, but don’t worry!  This will only increase flavor.)

Remove the roast and set aside.  Add onions and peppers and cook until fork-tender.  You may need to add a little olive oil at this point, if there is not enough fat left in the pan to keep the veggies from sticking and burning.   Turn the heat off.

Add the roast back into the pan.  Add cola, cover with lid, and place in the oven.  Cook for 3 1/2 hours or until meat becomes fork-tender and easily pulls away from the bone.  

Cilantro Lime Rice

• 1 Bag of Cajun Country Rice
• 16oz Coconut Water
• 2tbs of Lime juice
• 2 cups of chopped pineapple
• handful of chopped cilantro
• Daigle's Applewood Jalapeno BBQ Sauce

Directions

Combine coconut water, lime juice, 3 slices of pineapple, and cilantro and blend together in blender or food processor. This will be the water for your rice.

Rice Cooker: Combine rice with coconut water mixture in rice cooker and cook until rice cooker notify you it is complete. Cooking rice in a rice cooker is a 1 to1 ratio of rice to water.

Stovetop Rice: If you are using a pot, you will need 2 cups of coconut water mixture for every cup of rice.  Place the amount you would like to cook in a pot, uncovered, and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, lower heat to simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes. As with any cooking, you may adjust the amount of liquid to your preference. (If you are wanting to cook 2 cups of rice over the stove then you will need to double the ingredients in the coconut water mixture).

Add a few spoon full of rice to a bowl, top with pulled pork, pineapple and Daigle's BBQ Sauce. 

This is a seriously good and easy meal, especially for a summer meal!