I am totally not a planner when it comes to food. In fact, I was explaining this to a friend the other day, how most days I determine what we are having for dinner by whatever I take out of the freezer in the morning. On occasion I do plan the evening before and sometimes I dream about a breakfast combination… but in general, I tend to surprise even myself, which for me makes eating and cooking so much more fun. π
And many times, our meals are based around what we have available or something that I must use up, as is the case with this recipe and the pineapple that would soon have gone bad and to waste. I hate wasting food for many reasons, but I won’t go into that now.
Here’s the combination for this dish: pork belly stripes made in the oven with a dry rub (get the recipe for the spice mix here), a pineapple-avocado-tomato salsa, an avocado mayo (recipe included below), and Paleo soft tortilla shells (get the recipe here)*. The tortilla shells can be made days in advance and frozen. I usually take them out of the freezer just a few minutes before heating them. They are easily warmed up in a hot pan with no oil or grease necessary, just a few seconds on each side.
*For the tortilla shells this time, I halved the recipe, omitting the flaxmeal and cumin, since I knew the pork was going to be spicy enough. Plus, I doubled the amount of coconut milk in the recipe to make them slightly thinner.
- For the pork belly stripes:
- 1 kg pork belly strips
- 2-4 tablespoons of Cinnamon-Chili Rub*
- sea salt, to taste
- 1 tablespoon (or a bit more) of lard, cut into think slices
- For the pineapple-avocado-tomato salsa:
- 1 fresh pineapple, cut into slices and then diced
- 1-2 ripe avocados (depending on size), diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- juice of 1/2 lime
- For the avocado mayo:
- 1 medium avocado
- juice of one lime
- coarse sea salt, to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- For the set up:
- fresh onions, for garnishing
- Paleo Tortilla Shells*
- For the pork belly stripes:
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
- Rinse and place the pork belly stripes in an oven proof dish.
- Sprinkle with the cinnamon-chili rub on both sides.
- Sprinkle with some coarse sea salt, to taste, and place the slices of lard on top.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes on each side or until done, depending on the amount of meat on them. (I turn mine over about every 20 minutes.)
- Cut each strip into small pieces to use in your tacos.
- For the pineapple-avocado salsa:
- Mix the pineapple, avocado, and tomato and drizzle with the lime juice.
- For the avocado mayo:
- Pulse in a blender or immersion blender the avocado, lime juice and sea salt.
- Add the olive oil slowly and blend until all is smooth.
- For setting up each taco:
- Place some pork belly pieces on each shell (amount is up to you).
- Cover with some of the salsa, the avocado mayo, and fresh onions.
- Enjoy!
Yum, I think this will be tomorrow nights tea, I have pineapple needing to be used up as well. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you Robyne for checking out the blog and trying the recipe!
Made it, was perfect! I’ve never used a rub like that on pork belly before, but we loved it and it will be in rotation, love your blog, thank you.
Glad to hear that! Thank you for the feedback, and happy to have you on board! π
This looks great! I have to admit I’ve become a more creative cook when I’ve been a poor planner. Or just poor, as in I can’t afford to go to the store so I have to use what I have :).
Me too! π
Your recipe lists lard as an ingredient but it’s not mentioned in any of the processes. Can you specify how it’s used? Thanks
Thanks Freddo for catching that mistake. It’s placed on top of the pork belly pieces. I’ve updated the recipe. Good catch!!
Thank you!
Todo esta rico