I think actually carne asada is not a thing that you make in a slow cooker, I think it's thinly sliced grilled steak? But anyway carne asada to me means beef and carnitas, which is coming up in a bit, means pork. I'm not saying that's right, just what's in my head. I developed my own recipe that I can use for both from these two that I pinned a couple egressions ago. I like using the slow cooker for something like this, but I personally don't think that any meat needs to be cooked for eight hours. The finish in the broiler is what really makes this, you can do the slow cooker part and just put the meat in a container in the fridge and then quick broil however much you're going to eat.
an onion
a red bell pepper
a jalapeno pepper
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 lb flank steak
Roughly chop the onion and peppers and mix together. Mix the spices together and rub them on the meat, and cut the meat roughly into two-inch squares. Layer the meat and aromatics in the slow cooker and cook on high for two hours. Then remove the meat and let the vegetables and juices cook for another hour.
When the vegetables are reduced and the meat is cooled, rip the meat into bite-sized pieces; rough pieces are better than neat squares, actually. I pureed the vegetables into a sauce with my stick blender, I think that was good. At this point I put the meat into a container, poured the sauce over, and put it in the fridge.
To finish the meat, put however much you want to eat in a singleish layer on a baking sheet. Broil for ten minutes if you like a dark char, then stir it up and serve. For a lighter char broil for five minutes, stir it up and broil for five more minutes. You can also do this in the toaster oven, it's the lightest char but the easiest cleanup.
You could serve this for dinner in lettuce wraps with avocado and tomato, or as a little breakfast meat with eggs and vegetables, or with half a sweet potato for your spacefood needs.
ETA 6/27/13: I simplified this prep alot for summer: I just give the meat a rough chop when it's out, and put it in a container, and pour over the vegetables and liquid. Into the fridge it goes and when I want to eat it, I scoop some out and heat it in the microwave, no fuss with the broiler, it's still good.
