One of the things I miss about living in Utah is going to Cafe Rio. Their pork salads are so addicting and while living in Texas and California I've missed them dearly. Since there are no Cafe Rio restaurants around, I decided I needed to find a copycat recipe to calm my cravings. I'm SO glad I found this recipe! I wouldn't say that it is exact, but it is pretty darn close!Cafe Rio Pork Salad (Copycat)
from Favorite Family Recipes
*Makes 4 large salads
Here's how you put it together. Place a tortilla inside a foil pan. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and place in oven preheated at 375 for about 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Top with black beans and corn, cilantro lime rice, sweet pork, chopped romaine and green leaf lettuce, tortilla strips and parmesan cheese. Garnish with a lime wedge, guacamole, and pico de gallo if desired. Drizzle with Creamy Tomatillo Ranch Dressing and enjoy!
Sweet Pork
2 lbs. pork
3 cans Coke (not diet)
dash garlic salt
1 can sliced green chillies
3/4 can red enchilada sauce (mild)
1 cup brown sugar
Cut pork into 2 or 3 chunks. Place in crockpot and add 2 cups of water and enough coke to completely cover the pork. Sprinkle with garlic salt and cook on high for 7 hours or unitl pork shreds easily. Remove from crockpot and shred. Drain water mixture and return the pork to the crockpot.
In a blender, blend 1/2 can coke, chillies, enchilada sauce and brown sugar. Pour over shredded pork, stir, and and cook on low for 2 hours.
Black Beans
2 TBSP olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
dash of chili powder
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn ( not original cafe rio, but very good)
1 (10 3/4 oz ) tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, corn, tomato juice , salt, ad nchili powder. Continually stir until heated through.
Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup uncooked rice (long-grain white)
1 tsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp freshly squeeaed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 TBSP fresh chopped cilantro
In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp lime juice, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.
Creamy Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
2 tomatillos, husk removed, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalepeno (remove seeds if you don't like it spicy)
Mix all ingredients together in a blender.
Simple Guacomole
2-3 ripe avacados
lime
salt
pepper
Mash avacados until mostly smooth. Squeeze lime juice over avacados (how much you use depends on how limey you like it. Start with a little and taste it as you go along). Add salt and pepper until it is to you liking.
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