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Pork Verde Tostadas

Pork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde.Pork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde ~ The Complete Savorist #HERDEZ #LasPosadas adIt’s that magical time of year when the air is cold, the ground is white (at least in my neck of the woods), people are a bit nicer (and a whole lot crazier), the food is hearty, rich, laden with butter and sugar, and the children go from angels to devils in mere nanoseconds; yes my friends, it’s Christmas time.

One of the things I love most about the holidays are the traditions. I love hearing what other people do to celebrate. From the most basic things like frosting cookies together, to building the season’s first snowman, to various religious rite and festivals, and so on. I’d even argue that those who dislike the holidays even have their own traditions of getting Chinese food on Christmas day or a DVD marathon of their favorite TV show or movie series.

Passing on traditions to Elizabeth is important to me. We have several family traditions like buying new Christmas ornaments each year to symbolize our year. Elizabeth gets one for her year, I get one for my year, and then a third that represents what we did as a family this year. I love that our tree is decorated with memories and not just randomly purchased items (although there are a few of those on there too).

I’ve partnered with HERDEZ®, a maker of authentic Mexican foods to celebrate the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas. Las Posadas (the inns), is a 9-day Mexican Christmas tradition based on the biblical journey of Mary and Joseph and their search of a safe place, or “inn,” to stay before the birth of Jesus. From December 16-24 each year, friends, families and neighbors participate as “innkeepers” and host a Posada at a different home each night. The evening’s host family provides traditional Las Posadas food—an essential element to the festivities.

Now, I am of Mexican decent, my paternal grandfather was Mexican. But in all honesty, I am not culturally hispanic or anything other than generic American. My Spanish speaking skills are quite appalling. However, feel free to write to me in Spanish, I can handle that. I have equal Italian blood to my Mexican blood and the remaining half of me is a smattering of Western European ethnicities. I have participated in various activities that are culturally Mexican or Italian. I feel fortunate to have participated in several rich heritage traditions in one way or another.

Pork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde ~ The Complete Savorist #HERDEZ #LasPosadas ad

My family never celebrated Las Posadas. In fact, I never heard of the tradition until college when I was studying anthropology. Cultural traditions fascinate me.

I mentioned that traditions are something I am trying to pass down to Elizabeth and part of that is helping her understand her family roots. Sure, I’ve never celebrated Las Posadas, but somewhere down the line, our family did, and maybe distant relatives still do. But I want her to know about it. Just as I want her to know about Chanukah and pagan rituals. I want her to have a deeper understand of humanity and all the differences we have that in the end, make us all the same. We all love our families, where we came from, and want the best for our family and friends.

I invited some friends over to share a meal, and to share the story of Las Posadas with them. I used children’s picture books to do so. I don’t care how old you are, having a picture book read to you is fun. We enjoyed our evening, even though it didn’t last for 9 days, maybe next year we’ll go for full authenticity and celebrate for 9 straight nights, I mean 8 days of not having to cook doesn’t sound all bad to me.

For my offering, I made my Lighter Carnitas, and after I pan-fried them, I tossed the pork with HERDEZ® Salsa Verde, which is so good, I could eat it by the spoonfuls. Since it’s the holidays and I am not watching (too closely) my fat or calories, I decided to FRY some corn tortillas to make tostada shells. I topped each shell with the pork, diced cabbage, sliced radishes, and then drizzled crema (Mexican sour cream) and more HERDEZ® Salsa Verde. You can go crazy, add beans, top with queso fresco, add avocado, the possibilities are endless. You can even leave it all buffet style and let your guests assemble their tostadas to their own liking.Pork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde ~ The Complete Savorist #HERDEZ #LasPosadas ad

Pork Verde Tostadas

Course: Dinner/Slow Cooker
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: carnitas, Tostadas, verde
Author: Michelle De La Cerda

Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde.

Print

Ingredients

  • Lighter Carnitas
  • 1-16 oz jar HERDEZ® salsa verde
  • Shredded cabbage
  • Diced Radishes
  • Crema Mexicana
  • Corn Tortillas
  • High heat oil (for frying)
  • Fresh chopped cilantro

Optional Ingredients

  • Queso Fresco
  • Avocado
  • Cheese
  • Diced onions
  • Beans (black, refried, pinto)
  • Fresh limes wedges

Instructions

  1. Make Lighter Carnitas.
  2. Add 12 oz of HERDEZ® salsa verde to the pork and mix well.
  3. In a frying pan, heat the oil, and drop one corn tortilla in until it starts to brown, flip, and brown, cooks in about 1-2 minutes. Continue until all shells have been fried. Let rest on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
  4. Layer the the tostadas with the pork verde, cabbage, radishes then drizzle with crema and more HERDEZ® salsa verde.
  5. If using, layer with any additional ingredients.
  6. Serve and enjoy.

Pork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde ~ The Complete Savorist #HERDEZ #LasPosadas adPork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde ~ The Complete Savorist #HERDEZ #LasPosadas adPork Verde Tostadas ~ Slow cooked pork then quickly fried up carnitas-style, served on a crisp corn tortilla and topped with with cabbage, radishes, crema, and salsa verde ~ The Complete Savorist #HERDEZ #LasPosadas ad

Thank you for sharing!

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24 Comments

  • Reply
    Debra @ Bowl Me Over
    December 20, 2015 at 10:49 am

    Deliciously beautiful pictures and a terrific recipe! Personally Herdez is my salsa of choice, it’s the closest homemade taste in a store-bought salsa & I love the verde!

  • Reply
    Laura
    December 21, 2015 at 12:03 am

    I don’t need your mexican heritage to be totally down with fun Mexican traditions and outstanding dishes like these! Yum!

  • Reply
    Denise Wright
    December 21, 2015 at 4:48 am

    Oh my these look so good! I am definitely making these this week. We’ve been on a Mexican kick but I haven’t made tostadas before. Yum!

  • Reply
    Kristen @ A Mind Full Mom
    December 21, 2015 at 6:05 am

    Michelle, these look OUT of this world good! I love anything Mexican but when you top it with fresh ingredients I am always sold. Totally making this ASAP

  • Reply
    Florian @ContentednessCooking
    December 21, 2015 at 9:00 am

    Easy meals are the best portable and approachable…. Amazing recipe

  • Reply
    Diana Johnson @ Eating Richly Even When You're Broke
    December 21, 2015 at 11:27 am

    Tostadas are my favorite Mexican food, I just love them! Yours are really beautiful, love the radishes on top.

  • Reply
    Sabrina @ Dinner, then Dessert
    December 21, 2015 at 11:50 am

    Yum!! I love salsa verde and pork together! Looks amazing!

  • Reply
    Analida's Ethnic Spoon
    December 21, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    Herdez salsa verde is the bomb! ¡El mejor!

  • Reply
    Jennifer A Stewart
    December 21, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    My hubby is kind of a grinch when it comes to Christmas but we have a similar ornament tradition. When we got our first tree together as a couple, we were engaged, and we bought an ornament for each other. Those were the only ornaments on the tree. Each year we have continued to buy an ornament for each other and one for each of our boys. Those are the only ornaments that go on the family tree. Now our tree has quite a few since we have been married for 16 years and have two boys that are 10 and 12. We bought other smaller trees over the years for ornaments that others have given us or a theme that we like. My boys always look forward to picking out their ornament for the year and then walking down memory lane each year when we unwrap them and decorate again. Oh, and you tostadas are amazing looking. If you participate in Las Pasados, call me so I can come!

  • Reply
    Maris (In Good Taste)
    December 21, 2015 at 2:02 pm

    What a very nice tradition! These sound like a delicious use of salsa!

  • Reply
    Kacey @ The Cookie Writer
    December 21, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    Ohhh, these look so good! And so easy!! It is so nice to be reading about everyone’s love for Christmas and how they plan to celebrate 🙂

  • Reply
    eli@coachdaddy
    December 21, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    Delicious! This looks so good, I bumped up the magnification to 120%! We usually eat flour tortillas, but there’s something old-school and delicious about tortillas de maiz, tambien.

  • Reply
    Renee - Kudos Kitchen
    December 21, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    I am SO hungry after seeing your tostadas! Oh how I wish I had them for dinner tonight! Maybe next week 🙂

  • Reply
    Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
    December 21, 2015 at 8:17 pm

    LOVE LOVE LOVE HERDEZ! This recipe looks fantastic Michelle! <3

  • Reply
    Deb @ Cooking on the Front Burner
    December 21, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    I so want these on my menu soon! They look so tasty!!

  • Reply
    Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life
    December 21, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    This sounds like a great recipe, Michelle. I absolutely love Mexican food. I know my family will like it too! I have to keep my eye out for Herdez…I don’t remember ever seeing it here.

  • Reply
    Caroline | carolinescooking
    December 22, 2015 at 6:06 am

    These sound so good – I love Mexican and salsa verde is a favorite. Somehow I have never made tostadas at home but think I need to give these a try. Pinned!

  • Reply
    eat good 4 life
    December 22, 2015 at 7:58 am

    These look terrific. I wish I could eat a couple of them for lunch!

  • Reply
    Sherri @ Watch Learn Eat
    January 4, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    These tostadas look absolutely amazing! The colors are beautiful, the photos are stunning and the flavor combination is awesome! Drooling! 😉

  • Reply
    Easy Charro Beans with Canned Beans - The Complete Savorist
    January 15, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    […] Pork Verde Tostadas […]

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