Summery Pulled Pork and Veggie Bowls

These summery pulled pork and veggie bowls are the perfect way to use leftover pulled pork! Throw it in a bowl of seasonal sautéed veggies, roasted sweet potato wedges, greens, and maple mustard vinaigrette. Seriously, YUM.

this recipe

You guys. I'm so so excited to share this post with you today because it's in collaboration with another food blogger, Nicolas, over at Blogtastic Food. He reached out to me and several other food bloggers asking if we wanted to create recipes using his Smokey and Spicy Pulled Pork, and then share them all together in one big post over on his site (be on the lookout for that one!). Me when I saw his email: I've never made pulled pork before but UMMM haaiii and yes plz.

This opportunity excited me for a couple of reasons:

1. You know those moments in young adulthood when you don't really have any friends yet because everyone moved away after college, and every time you *maybe* make a *potential* friend, you call your mom and are like, "MOM. Today, I made a friend!!!" (That's not just me, right?). Well, I had an equivalent reaction when I received Nicolas' message. I was like, OMG! Another food blogger actually communicated with me... COOOOOL.
2. I had never made pulled pork before I made this recipe, and I'm always excited to be challenged and learn how to cook new things. Plus, it was an opportunity to be creative, which is my favorite thing to be 🙂

So I gave it some thought, did some research on what you can do with leftover pulled pork, and I decided I would make these summery pulled pork and veggie bowls. Why? Because bowl recipes are the epitome of how I eat dinner every night: protein + veggies + avocado + grains + spices and flavors all combined in a one bowl. (Yeeaah I basically just gave avocado it's own food group :)). They're so easy and so delicious, and you can pack in a ton of healthy ingredients and get creative with flavor combinations. (Funny you should ask, I was in fact one of those kids that totally didn't mind when her food got mixed together on her plate. Okay fine so I purposely smooshed it all together. In my defense, my little bro was worse...)

Summery Pulled Pork and Veggie Bowl Components

Okay, get ready -- I'm going to explain all of the components to these summery pulled pork and veggie bowls, so that you can get things cooking simultaneously.

• The Seasonal Sautéed Veggies. With corn, roasted peppers, grape tomatoes, zucchini, edamame, red onion and cilantro, these sautéed veggies are somewhat reminiscent of maque choux or succotash. Basically, you just combine all of the other veggies, toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper, and sauté them on low and slow for 18-20 minutes.
• The Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges. I don't know what it is, but sweet potatoes are always a great addition to any bowl recipe. All you have to do is halve each sweet potato the short way, then halve it again the long way. Next, slice each quarter into wedges. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper, or use your leftover dry rub from the Smokey and Spicy Pulled Pork recipe. (I highly recommend the latter for a delicious experience). Then pop 'em in the oven.
• The Greens. I always start my bowl recipes off with a layer of greens, be it chopped kale, mixed greens, arugula, or whatever! They add extra flavor, nutrients, and color -- all things I like 🙂
• The Maple Mustard Vinaigrette. At first, I didn't think this bowl recipe would need any sauce or dressing given the sauce that results from making the pulled pork. But then I tried a bowl with the maple mustard vinaigrette, and I was like oh, um, hi, NECESSARY. You might disagree and can opt out if you want, but I just love how having a dressing or sauce unifies all of the ingredients. Plus, who couldn't use another simple vinaigrette recipe up their sleeve?

So there you have it, all of the summery pulled pork and veggie bowl components. And they're so incredibly delicious, you guys. While it won't get done in 30 minutes or less (it's more like 45 - 50 minutes), it does make a lot of food that you'll have at the ready throughout the week. (Unless you're like me and legit can't stop eating the pulled pork because it's that good. The struggle is real...)

Oh, and *without fail*, I did have a clumsy moment of the epic, bowl-shattering kind. In short, the glass bowl that I was using to mix the sweet potatoes and spices in somehow slipped out of my hands and hit my wooden kitchen chair, shattering into pieces. Consequently, all the red colored spices you can imagine (paprika, cayenne, the likes) went everywhere, including on the chair, which I didn't realize and proceeded to sit on while wearing white shorts. Luckily I noticed before leaving my apartment again! I couldn't help but think, "Now that... is how I imagine it would look like if I'd sat on some Flamin' Hot Cheetos." I guess I shouldn't listen to music and dance walk while cooking and holding a glass bowl?? Maybe this is my problem...

Anyway, you should head over to Blogtastic Food right now and go right to the Smokey and Spicy Pulled Pork recipe. And then make these summery pulled pork and veggie bowls soon, because... just look at it:

Summery Pulled Pork and Veggie Bowls

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Pulled pork, summery veggie sauté, roasted sweet potato wedges, greens, and maple mustard vinaigrette all combined in one big, flavorful bowl.

• Author: Tera
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
• Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 recipe Smokey and Spicy Pulled Pork

Veggie Sauté Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh corn, cut off the cob
• 1 ½ cups grape tomatoes, halved
• ½ red onion, diced finely
• ½ cup edamame, shelled (I used frozen)
• ½ cup jarred roasted bell peppers, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + a little more for cooking
• salt and pepper

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedge Ingredients:

• 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and rinsed
• 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
• leftover dry rub from the pulled pork, or spices of choice

Maple Mustard Vinaigrette Ingredients:

• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard (or any grainy mustard)
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For the Veggie Sauté:

1. Combine corn, grape tomatoes, red onion, edamame, roasted peppers, zucchini, and cilantro in a large bowl. Toss in 2 tablespoon olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Drizzle a little more olive oil in a large skillet and heat over medium-high. Add veggies to skillet and sauté on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and allow veggies to cooke for 12-15 more minutes, continuing to stir here and there (just so nothing gets stuck to the bottom). You'll know they're ready when everything is cooked through, and the grape tomatoes have burst.

For the Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges:

1. Cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise and then crosswise, and then cut each piece into wedges about ¼ of an inch thick.
2. Toss sweet potato wedges in a bowl with 1-2 tablespoon olive oil and leftover dry rub from the pulled pork, if you saved it. If not, use your favorite spice combo! I love salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder.
3. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet in one even layer. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until the outsides of the potatoes are beginning to brown, and insides are cooked through completely.

For the Maple Mustard Vinaigrette:

1. In a mason jar, combine the cider vinegar, olive oil, mustard and maple syrup.
2. Place a lid on the jar, and shake vigorously until well-combined.

Assemble the Bowls:

1. Layer a (preferably large ;)) bowl with about 1 cup of your favorite greens.
2. Add about ½ cup of the pulled pork, 1 cup veggies, and 6-10 sweet potato wedges to the bowl. (Those amounts are completely arbitrary, and you should really just put in as much as you want :)).
3. Drizzle maple mustard vinaigrette over the top to tie it all together.

Notes

*If you're missing one or two ingredients for the veggie sauté component, don't sweat it! Just make it anyway -- it'll be just as good.

**Cook time includes the time it takes to make the pulled pork (about 3 hr 25 min).

P.S. If you're looking for other summery recipes, try this Vinegar Cucumber Salad OR this Peach Blueberry Salad. I make them all throughout the summer 🙂