Slow Cooker Carne Asada Tacos

Another week, another challenge for the 52 weeks of cooking. This week the challenge was tacos, which is right up my alley. Fajitas are one of my favorites things to make (and eat!) and tacos aren't very different as far as technique goes.

A couple weeks ago I made chicken fajitas in my slow cooker, so I thought I'd try to make the taco meat for this weeks challenge in the slow cooker as well. In the past year, I haven't used my slow cooker much, but I'm beginning to see the appeal. A little prep in the morning, let it cook all day and voila!, you have a tasty meal to come home to after a long day at work.

Enough mooning over my slow cooker, let's get to the recipe!

Slow Cooker Carne Asada Beef Tacos
adapted from the following recipes: Tyler Florence Tacos Carne Asada and Crock-pot Carne Asada Tacos

Ingredients

For the mojo:

4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

For the tacos:

3 lb flank steak

flour or corn tortillas

salsa

shredded lettuce

Directions

To make the mojo:

In a mortar and pestle or bowl, mash together  food processor, pulse the garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper to make a paste. Put the paste in a glass jar or plastic container. (I used a mason jar and it worked really well. Bonus: you could make a bigger batch and store half for later use.)Add the lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and oil. Shake it up really well to combine.

Taco Meat:

Set your slow cooker to low for 8 hours. Place the meat flat on the bottom and pour the mojo over. Poke holes in the meat with a fork so the sauce can penetrate it while cooking. After 8 hours, remove the meat and shred. Return to the crock-pot and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Heating tortillas:

Set oven to 350. Wrap up to five tortillas in aluminum foil and place in oven for about 15 minutes. Keep wrapped until ready to serve.

Rating
Overall, I'd say this recipe was a win. The meat was very tender from cooking all day and the mojo was just right. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro so I was worried when the sauce called for so much, but it ended up being perfect. If you're looking for a complete meal, serve with black beans and rice.