EveryPlate Zesty Pork Tacos

Review:
     This is the second recipe from EveryPlate I have made. These pork tacos were tasty, though they didn't blow me away. The recipe was much quicker than the Tuscan chicken pasta. From start to end photo, it took me 36 minutes so dead-on for estimated time.
     Some of the terminology and instructions on the recipe cards I again found confusing, so I have translated them into how I would do my own recipe post here. I could definitely see myself making these again, but adding some actual hot spice as there was none whatsoever. Due to the poor quality of the lime, I did not have enough lime zest for the  lime creme step and just used straight sour cream. I recommend doing the step as it would probably help make these tacos pop.
    I took the second portion of these to work the next day, and neither the tomato salsa nor the radishes held up and it had a bad odor. I think this was partially due to the poor quality of the tomatoes and the radishes. See picture of how smushed the tomato was, and note the rot on the red onion in the ingredients picture below as well as the very blemished skin on half of the lime.

Estimated cook time: 35 minutes
Actual cook time: 36 minutes

Zesty Pork Tacos
from EveryPlate

Ingredients:
- 10 oz. ground pork
- 6 tortillas
- 3 radishes
- 1 roma tomato
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 red onion
- 7 g. Fajita spice
- 2 oz. sour cream
- 1 lime
- salt, pepper, sugar

Instructions:
1. Small dice tomato. Peel and thinly slice red onion. Finely chop enough red onion to get 2 Tbs. minced.
2. Thinly slice radishes. Zest lime for 1 tsp. lime zest, then quarter lime. Mince garlic.
3. In a small bowl, combine tomato, chopped onion, half of the lime zest, and half of the juice from the lime, salt, and pepper.
4. In another small bowl combine raddish slices, rest of the lime juice, a large pinch of both salt and sugar.
5. Heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium high heat. Add sliced onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened and browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
6. Add pork and Fajita seasoning to pan, separating pork until fully cooked, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
7. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, 1 Tbs. water, and remaining lime zest. Wrap tortillas in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds until supple.
8. Add pork, tomato salad, and raddish pickle to a tortilla. Tip with lime creme.

Meatloaf Formula

This is one of the first things I learned how to cook post-vegetarianism. It's easy, delicious, and highly flexible.

This recipe scales well to a 1/2 recipe using: 2 lbs. meat, 2 eggs, and half of all other ingredients (including the sauce) & a 1 hour cook time. A full recipe is a quite large, so I recommend starting with a half.

Meatloaf Formula

makes 12 meal-sized servings

Ingredients:

Loaf:
3-4 lbs. ground meat*
0-3 cups vegetables, diced small**
6 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 cups grains***
3 eggs

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 Tbs. herbs and spices****
8-16 oz. cheese***** (optional for cheese-stuffed)

Sauce:
1/2 cup onion puree (~1 onion)
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup sweetener (honey, agave, maple syrup)
1/4 cup hot sauce (sriracha, valentina's)
4 Tbs. tomato paste

Pan:

vegetables for bottom of roasting pan******

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
2. Combine ground meat, diced vegetables, garlic, grains, eggs, s&p and herbs/spices. Combine well with hands or sturdy wooden spoon.
3. In a 11" x 9" pan (large roasting pan) spread Pan vegetables to cover bottom of pan.
4. Dump meatloaf mix onto counter.
- If stuffing with cheese: flatten into a rectangle shorter than long side of pan, 1" thick. Place cheese filling in the middle, and gently roll up sides of  loaf and pinch seam together. Carefully transfer to pan, flipping so seam side is down.
- If NOT stuffing with cheese: form loaf that is several inches shorter than long side of pan.

5. Make sure the meatloaf is centered in the pan, not touching any of the sides. This will create better texture on the meatloaf and prevent sticking to the pan. Flatten the top to give maximum surface area for the sauce.

6. Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over loaf, trying to keep sauce from dripping over side of loaf and down onto pan.
7. Cook for 1.5-2 hours, until internal temperature reads 165F. Let rest 10-15 minutes before cutting into after taking out of oven.

* Ground Meat Examples:
- Traditional: 2-3 lbs. ground beef + 1 lb. ground pork
- Premium: 2-3 lbs. ground bison + 1 lb. lardons
- Poultry: 2-3 lbs. ground turkey + 1 lb. bacon

** Loaf Vegetable Examples:

Vegetables need to be diced very fine so they don't compromise the structural integrity of the meatloaf. I recommend using raw veggies but you can use cooked.
- Traditional: 1 onion + 1 green bell pepper
- Summer Garden: 1 cup shredded & squeezed zucchini + 1 cup onion + 1 cup shredded kale

*** Grain Examples:
- Traditional: oats (any) or bread-crumbs
- Alternatives: rice, barley, quinoa

**** Herb & Spice examples:
- Traditional: Italian seasoning
- Indian: garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, toasted cumin and mustard seeds
- French: oregano, rosemary, thyme

***** Cheese examples:

- Cheddar, mozzarella, herbed goat cheese log, brie chopped with cranberries, cream cheese mixed with chopped pecans

****** Pan Vegetables:

You want, at minimum, a thin layer of veg at the bottom to prevent burning and sticking of the meatloaf to the pan. The meatloaf drippings also make the vegetables delicious. You can go heavy here on the veg though if you'd like it to be a built-in side dish. Do not slice or chop your veg too small, as the meatloaf has a long cook time and you may run the risk of burn and over cooked veggies.

- minimum; 2 lbs. onion, cut into big slices/wedges/half moons or large diced

- heavy: 5 lbs. potatoes, large cubed and 2 lbs. onions