STRAWBERRY PULLED PORK

The other week I got invited by CA Strawberries to take a tour of Ramos Farms in Watsonville, CA. Miguel Ramos (the owner of Ramos Farms) and ‘California Strawberries’ blew my mind with all sorts of information about strawberries. From growing, to the families that work on the farm, how the strawberries are grown….I seriously could not write fast enough. I came home with a plethora of knowledge that I’m excited to share with you!!

 I actually went to school in Watsonville, and had no idea that 90% of all U.S. strawberries are grown year-round in California by 400 diverse family farmers.  (You can read all about their stories here) And psst….the stories are inspiring!

Miguel Ramos’ farm is considered small, with only about 40 acres of strawberry fields. By keeping it small, he has more control over the quality of the strawberries he is growing. All the farmers in California, whether conventional or organic, help sustain their communities by providing 70,000 jobs and have funded over $2 million in scholarships for children of field workers. And since they live and work in the communities where they farm, protecting the health, land, and environment is their top priority!

Okay…now here is where my mind blew up into a million little pieces.  The nutrition facts on strawberries is just ridic! For as sweet as strawberries are you would think they have the most natural sugar in them right?!!? WRONG! Dude, these red, luscious, fruit angels only have 7 grams of sugar and 85 milligrams of vitamin C which is more than an orange and your recommended intake of 75 milligrams. It full of fiber, so it fills your belly right up and research shows that eating 8 a day is “Ah-mazing” for the whole body, promoting heart health, reducing the risk of some cancers, supporting brain health, and diabetes management.

And since these bad boys are so darn good for you, I’ve made a strawberry pulled pork with strawberry salsa that you will want to make after you are done licking the computer screen!

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STRAWBERRY PULLED PORK

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork shoulder
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 1 sweet yellow onion, sliced
• 1 lb strawberries, diced
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• SALSA
• 5-6 strawberries, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, diced
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced to 1/2

Instructions

1. In a crockpot take your onion, slice it and place on the bottom of the pot.
2. Lay your pork shoulder on top of the onions.
3. Pour the balsamic over the pork and add in your chopped jalapeno and your diced strawberries.
4. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or on high 4-6 hours.
5. With 1 hour left to cook, remove the pork and "pull" apart with forks. If it doesn't pull apart easily, put back in and cook another 45 min to an hour and try again.
6. Place pulled pork back into crockpot and mix everything together then let cook the remainder of time left.
7. To make strawberry salsa, reduce your balsamic vinegar.
8. Once it has been reduced take 5-6 strawberries and dice them up along with 1/2 of a jalapeno.
9. Put in with the balsamic and stir around. Let simmer on low for 5 min. Stir and serve over the pulled pork.

Notes

To reduce balsamic vinegar, take a small pot with a little more that a cup of balsamic vinegar. Let come to a soft boil, then reduce heat to med-low, swirling the pot every once in awhile. Reducing will take about 10 min. Take off heat and let sit for a few minutes. It will thicken up as it sits.

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Whole30: yes

Paleo: yes

*Disclosure: this is a sponsored post by California Strawberries and I was compensated via cash, gift, or something else of value to write about it. All opinions and thoughts are by own!!