Sweet Pork (or Chicken) with Refried Beans

Okay, this is an old standby recipe, and I can't believe I haven't put it on here yet.  It's basically a easy copycat recipe for Cafe Rio's or Costa Vida's Sweet Pork.  And its incredibly easy.  It works with about any meat...I usually use pork, but if I happen to not have any in the house (like this time), I use chicken thighs or breasts, or a beef roast. I thought I would attempt to make homemade refried beans and corn tortillas to go with it and it worked out pretty well. I didn't have dried beans in the house, and this was a spur of the moment thing, so these are more of a shortcut refried beans, because I used canned black beans. With the corn tortillas, I simply followed the directions on my Masa flour...I know I can improve this recipe, they were tasty, but kind of fell apart, like corn tortillas tend to do.

This post is linked here for Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays on Simply Sugar and Gluten-free.

Sweet Pork (or Chicken or Beef)
3-4lb pork shoulder roast, or country style ribs (or equivalent amount of chicken or beef)
1 jar salsa (I actually usually use Pace Picante Sauce)
1 cup brown sugar

Place meat in a slow cooker. Mix together salsa and brown sugar and pour over meat.  Cook on low 8-10 hours (unless you have chicken then do 6-8 hours).  Shred and serve over rice or with corn tortillas.

Shortcut Refried Black Beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup onion (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic (optional)

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Place drained beans into a saucepan and cover with 4 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 2-3 hours. Drain beans, reserving the liquid.

In a heavy skillet heat oil.  Stir in onions, cook until transparent, add in garlic and cook another minute.  Stir in beans and seasonings.  Mash thoroughly with a potato masher. Stir in enough of the cooking liquid to make a pastelike mixture.