Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Southwestern Pulled Beef and Tacos

This recipe for southwestern style pulled beef for tacos is so good you will have a hard time going back to ground beef.

It uses salsa verde, seasonings and slow cooking to make beef that is incredibly flavourful and very moist. While it is delicious on rice or on a bun, it is perfect for tacos.

It also uses more inexpensive beef roasts like sirloin tip or eye-of-round.

Ingredients:

3-4 lb. sirloin tip, eye-of-round or other beef roast
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons red chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons Tex-Mex or Taco seasoning
10-15 jalapeno slices
1 bottle salsa verde

To begin, take your roast out and season it liberally (or to taste) with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for around 30 minutes.

Heat some olive oil to medium high in a large saucepan and brown the roast on all sides.

Once the roast has been browned, place it in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Cover with all of the seasonings, the jalapeno slices and the bottle of salsa verde. You can use any salsa verde you wish (or make your own) at whatever spice level. I used Herdez Medium Salsa Verde.

Put on the slow cooker lid, set the cooker to low and cook for 7 hours.

After the 7 hours, remove the roast from the liquid and place on a large platter. Keep the liquid heating, on low, in the cooker.

Remove any string/netting and using two forks pull the roast apart into small, stringy pieces. This should be quite easy to do. When the roast has been pulled apart, add the meat back into the liquid. Taste and add salt and/or pepper as desired. Cover and continue to cook on low for another hour.

After an hour it is ready to serve.

Place in taco shells and top with your favourite toppings, such as cheese, tomato, sour cream, hot sauce etc. This size roast will serve several people.

Goes great with red wine or beer. A real crowd-pleaser.

Enjoy.

See also: Taco Soup

See also: Jerk Style Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw & Jalapenos

Chilaquiles Inspired Black Bean, Cheese & Salsa Verde Bake

Submitted by Natalie Lochwin


This slightly spicy baked entree is inspired by a traditional Mexican dish, Chilaquiles, and is a truly delicious way to use leftover tortillas or salsa.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 corn tortillas
• 1 cup salsa verde (for this one I used La Costena brand Green Mexican Sauce, of which I am very fond)
• 3/4 cup low sodium vegetable or chicken stock.
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1 fresh jalapeno
• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic (local if possible)
• 2 smallish onions
• cilantro
• dried oregano

Preheat oven to 350 degree, and put the corn tortillas in on a baking tray to dry them until they are almost leathery. This will take around 7 minutes or so.

Meanwhile pop the cheese into the freezer for a bit to make it easier to shred.

 

Dice the onion and garlic and seed and dice the  jalapeno. Chop one handful of fresh cilantro and set aside. Fry the onion, garlic and jalapeno in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Add 1 cup of the tomatillo salsa.  Add most of the stock and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

 

Break or tear about half the tortillas into pieces and put them into the simmering sauce which will begin to thicken immediately. Add the remaining stock. Take the cheese out of the freezer and shred.

Grab a casserole dish. Ladle 1/2 the sauce into the dish. Add the beans, scattering them evenly over the sauce, add a layer of cheese and sprinkle with some cilantro. Dip the whole tortillas in the sauce left in the pan for a moment and lay them out like you would a lasagne over the cheese and beans. Cover with remaining sauce and top with another layer of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 10 or so minutes until sauce is absorbed and the cheese is golden and bubbly.

This dish can be eaten on its own, with some extra salsa and some sour cream on the side, or served with pulled chicken or scrambled or fried eggs.

Serve hot topped with cilantro. Enjoy!