Have you missed the grain bowls?! It has been awhile and I love love this format. We had these Cuban Rice bowls with inspiration from a cuban pressed sandwich – Pork, cheese, mustard, pickles. I didn’t have any ham but that would be traditional. These were fun for something different and have lots of ways to customize them.

Cuban Inspired Rice Bowls
Ingredients: (serves ~4-5)
1 1/2 cups rice
water/broth/bullion for the rice as dictated to prepare
1 1/2 cups pulled pork (or slices of cooked pork tenderloin)
2-3 pickle spears
1/4 cup white cheddar or swiss cheese
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup fried onions

Directions:
Cook the rice – mine was 5 minutes in the pressure cooker and uses 2 1/4 cups water + bullion.
Warm the pork in a pan until heated through.
Chop the pickles & the cheese.
Whisk or shake together the mustard and honey.
Warm the fried onions in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes.

Assemble the bowls with rice, cheese, pork, pickles, and the crispy onions.

Then drizzle with honey mustard mixture and enjoy!

I loved these! Add in some chopped ham! Swap for the cheese you like! Use any kind of pickles you like- I like dill and the rest of the fam likes bread & butter pickles! Go for any grain or rice you’re into! I added the honey to the yellow mustard to mellow it out a bit but you could skip that too. The inspiration is a Cuban sandwich but I’d be open to more veggies or the mustard mixed into the rice too!

These were fun and a great deviation from other ways we enjoy pulled pork. I put a pork shoulder into the crock pot for 6 hours and this was one meal and we have ~4 more portions in the freezer for BBQ pulled pork or tacos or quesadillas or on pizza…the list goes on.

This is like a vacation! Coconut rice and pineapple are delightful on their own, then adding pork and a honey teriyaki drizzle makes magic. We loved this. The first time I made it with chicken but the pork was even better.

Pineapple Coconut Rice Bowls:
Ingredients: (serves 4-5)
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cup water or broth
1 cup pineapple, chopped
1 1/2 cup shredded pork
2 green onions
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons BBQ sauce

Directions:
Cook the rice using the coconut milk and water/broth for the liquid (I used a pressure cooker- about 4 min for white rice!).
Warm the pork in a skillet over high heat to crisp up bits and add a tablespoon or so of the honey/teriyaki/bbq sauce for the last few minutes.
Add the pineapple to the rice when it has cooked completely and mix.

Assemble the bowls with rice on the bottom, the pork, and chopped green onion on top.

Drizzle bowls with the remaining sauce. Enjoy!

These were so good and a great use for pork. I love rice in the pressure cooker and it is so fast. The coconut and pineapple flavors are bright and easy to have anytime.

The pork shoulder in the crockpot for 8 hours became this, some went on pizza, and lots froze to be separate meals other times. We’ll use some for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and some smaller portions will go in quesadillas or nachos or something.