I always get the carnitas.

Mexican food is the cornerstone of local cuisine in San Diego, where I live. My husband and I have our favorite restaurants and taquerias but whenever we branch out to try a new place I always order the carnitas as a sort of benchmark of how good the food is. It’s a simple dish – succulent braised pork shoulder, served with warm tortillas and a host of fresh accompaniments such as sour cream, tomatoes, salsa and cilantro. Any guilt I may feel over the less-than-healthful manner in which carnitas are traditionally prepared (i.e., in lard) disappears immediately after I wrap them up soft taco-style with “the works” and take a big bite.

I found this recipe for a somewhat healthier version of carnitas on a package of pork shoulder. It calls for braising the pork with onions, garlic and green chiles in chicken broth. While you give up the crispy strands that slow-cooking in lard yields, you still get very moist, flavorful chunks of pork that taste wonderful in a soft taco.

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Rich, golden spinach-bacon macaroni and cheese is kind of like having a little angel and a little devil on each shoulder. It’s decadent for sure, but the spinach relieves just a touch of the guilt.

This was a rather simple recipe, from the back of a pouch of Kraft cheddar cheese, but the flavors were anything but basic. There’s no added seasoning whatsoever to this dish – all of the rich flavor comes from the ingredients themselves. The roux for the cheese sauce starts from the leftover bacon drippings, distributing a gentle bacony flavor throughout the pasta. The cheddar is both sharp and buttery and the parmesan is salty and a little nutty, so the combination is pretty robust and complex. And aside from a welcome color contrast, the spinach adds a nice herbiness to the mix.

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