{tasty} Spicy Buffalo Lentils

There are some things I am just simply not good at.

Time management may top that list. I confess, I am a procrastinator. You give me a hard deadline and you bet I will get it done, albeit I will surely wait until the eve of said deadline to start it. No deadline? Let's just say I have projects I started over 3 years ago that still sit unfinished. I have a never ending to-do list of ideas for home projects, craft projects, recipes...and simply not enough hours, or sometimes desire, to get them done.

Also on that list? Creating recipes. I am, however, one heck of a recipe follower. There are times that either I or my husband have a recipe idea and I make it happen. There is that little detail however of remembering how I made it. Of course, I can't make it that easy on myself and just write it down as I go. Or when I do write it down I throw it away or bury it in the mail pile and it's never seen again. Or I write down my ingredients and the meal turns out exactly as I hoped for but I didn't take pictures. Who wants to take pictures every 30 seconds while they are trying to get their family fed? Yep, that sounds like me but eventually I get my act together, even if it means making the same thing 4 times in a month.

I am still struggling to find a decent place to take natural light pictures in my house. It's proving to be quite difficult. We should move.

 Spicy Buffalo Lentils:

• 2 cups cooked Lentils
• 2 Carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 Celery stalks, diced
• 1/2 small Onion, diced
• 3 strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/3 cup Franks hot sauce
• 2 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil, divided
• 1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP Honey
• 1/3 cup Blue Cheese, plus more for topping

Cook bacon and set aside. 

Cook lentils according to package directions. Drain off any excess liquid. We always have either brown or french green lentils on hand and both work well for this dish. 

In a small dish combine hot sauce, vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic and honey and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add crumbled bacon and 2 cups of lentils and stir to combine. Add sauce and blue cheese and stir to fully coat lentils. Served topped with additional blue cheese.

You can certainly enjoy this dish on it's own, but serving it up with slow cooked pulled pork is a fabulous idea too!

{tasty} Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

I love my slow cooker. If I had the space it would probably have a permanent spot on my kitchen counter. My absolute favorite thing to make is pulled pork. It is easy. Nearly effortless. And downright delicious. Not to mention the leftovers. First things first, leftovers always start with pork & potato tacos. Always. Well, unless in this case where this delicious pork hurried out my door and off to my husbands work for a slow cooker cook off. 


This simple rub is wonderfully earthy and compliments pork nicely. 


Coffee Rub

• 3 tbsp Chili Powder
• 1 tbsp Cumin
• 1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1/2 tbsp Pepper
• 6 tbsp finely ground coffee

Trim large fat pads from a 3 pound pork shoulder and lightly rub with oil. Work the rub in over the whole roast. You want the sucker totally covered. When you think you have saturated it enough, add whatever rub you have left and saturate it more. Throw it in the crockpot and cook on low for 10-12 hours. Because of the fat content of the pork shoulder you do not have to add liquid. If you use tenderloin, add about 1/2 cup of stock or water. 

When the pork is done use two forks to shred it to pieces. 

Here is where it gets tricky. Its time to add some sauce. But please, do not douse this deliciously earthy pork in your traditional store bought tomato based BBQ sauce. Im begging you. It will be the worst mistake of your life.

It wasn't until recent years that I discovered that other parts of the country consider BBQ to be something totally different than what I grew up with. What I grew up with was nothing more than terrible in a bottle. It rivals Miracle Whip.

The first time I made a vinegar based sauce I fell in love. Its tangy, zippy, a little sweet and surprisingly enough really allows the flavor of the meat to come through. I don't believe I have ever made this sauce the same way twice, but the basics are always there. Apple Cider Vinegar, Mustard, and Brown Sugar. As far as I know this is a Carolina style BBQ sauce. Although it seems this varies a lot region to region.

I have made this pork twice, with 2 different sauces and loved both


Sauce #1
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup mustard, just plain old yellow mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, fine grind, or to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon your favorite hot sauce, or to taste

Combine in a saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes. Do not boil. Makes 4 cups. 


Sauce #2
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup applesauce (could use apple juice as well)
1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp honey
hot sauce, to taste
garlic
black pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Sadly these are all approximations. I threw this sauce together quickly and didn't measure anything. This was actually my favorite sauce with this pork. I will definitely have to make it again and hopefully find that I got this right.

Add your sauce to the pork and cook on high for about 15 minutes. Serve up on buns with Pepperjack cheese. Yum!