Growing up in Southern California, Taco Tuesday is always one of my favorites!  My husband and I had our first date around fish tacos at our favorite Mexican restaurant and although we don’t eat out often, we usually pick a fun taco restaurant for date nights.  The atmosphere is always colorful and exciting and I am amazed at the unique taco creations some places invent! I usually just eat the meat out of the taco and always add a side of guacamole to my order—and I always leave content and happy! Sometimes we will order margaritas as a celebration and I usually just ask them to make it with fresh lime juice instead of sweet and sour.  Restaurants are always so accommodating to help suite your needs!

I recently have been fascinated with pears—maybe its the fall chill in the air or that they just can be used in such a variety of ways!  Pears are a low glycemic fruit but still so tasty and sweet! One of my favorite snacks is a slice of pear, prosciutto and sharp raw cheddar from my grain free fall cheese platter or a simple pear crumble topped generously with whipped cream.  Pears come in all colors ranging from red to yellow to green.  I decided to mix these sweet pears into a savory dish creating a simple chopped pear salsa perfect for the fall and winter seasons.  This salsa will have you wanting to eat it by the spoonful and creates a fabulous twist to these Paleo friendly and grain free pork tacos.  I suggest using a slightly under ripe pear so that your salsa has a nice crispy and chunky texture to it.

Funny story—If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember a picture of me prepping this salsa a while back.  Well, that ended in a tearful mess!  Words of advice—when chopping jalapeños, make sure to wear gloves or don’t touch your hands to your eyes for quite some time.  Tearful advice I often give but always forget to follow myself!

I love pork and bacon, but do not eat it that often as it is difficult to find humanely raised pork.  US Wellness Meats offers high quality pork, raised free of antibiotics and growth hormones, ranging from sausages to roasts and from ribs to bacon.  Not only does it taste delicious, but I like knowing the fact that the pigs spend their life enjoying the sunshine and roaming for grasses, roots and insects—pigs are foragers and designed to roam freely outdoors!

These tacos are slow cooked making them a simple yet delicious weeknight dinner.  Cook the pork all day and chop up the fresh salsa just as you are about to serve.  Dinner can be on the table in minutes with minimal clean up and stress!

Weeknight Shredded Pork Tacos with Spicy Pear Salsa {Paleo & Grain Free}

Slow cooked shredded pork wrapped in crisp butter lettuce leaves for a healthy twist on classic tacos that is Paleo and grain free.  Top with a generous scoop of spicy chunky pear salsa for a creative seasonal fruit salsa.

serves a hungry crowd

Shredded Pork

• 3.5 pounds pork shoulder roast
• 2 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp chili pepper
• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp bacon grease

Spicy Pear Salsa

• 3 pears, firm (Bartlett or Green Anjou variety)
• 1 small red onion
• 3/4 cup cilantro
• 1 jalapeño, juiced
• 3 limes

To serve

• butter lettuce leaves
• guacamole
• sour cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F and warm a dutch oven on the stove to medium heat.
• Mix together seasonings, salt, chili, pepper and cinnamon, to make a spice rub.  Slice pork roast into 4 chunks and rub spices into both sides of meat.
• Melt bacon grease in the pan on the stove.  Brown meat chunks for 1 minute, then rotate and continue browning on the other side.  Pour juices on top and place the lid on the dutch oven. Bake for 5 1/2 hours, rotating the meat half way through to incorporate the juices.  Meat will shred apart very easily when fully cooked.
• Just before you are about to serve, make the salsa by chopping pears, onions, cilantro and jalapeño. Drizzle with lime juice and stir.
• Serve shredded pork taco meat in a butter lettuce leaf cup garnishing with guacamole and sour cream.