Cafe Rio

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything! I have a busy little family and that's the truth.

So here is a meal that we made a few weeks ago that we really enjoyed. My friend Mary had found these Cafe Rio recipes and had tried them out and said they were really good so we decided to give them a shot, since we don't have a Cafe Rio anywhere near our little spot of Arkansas.

It was a hit! It made A LOT and so we were eating leftovers for awhile, but that just means this would be a good meal to share with friends! The only big change I think I might make next time is to halve the amount of brown sugar added to the pork roast--it was a little sweet for our taste.

The way I decided to serve this was to make it into a cafe rio pork salad. We made tortilla bowls by spraying flour tortillas with cooking spray (both sides) and laying them over a ball of tin foil on a cookie sheet and baking them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes (I think...so watch them closely.) It would turn out even better if you had small ovenproof bowls to bake the tortillas on. These worked just fine though. Then we just built our own salads with the pork, rice, black beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and dressing. Yummy!

So here are the recipes:
(all from Mary, who found them on this blog: http://mygirlfriendskitchen.blogspot.com/)

CAFE RIO PORK

2-3 lb. pork roast
2 c. brown sugar (reserve 1 cup) (Next time I will only use 1 cup TOTAL)
1 cup worcestershire sauce
1 t. powdered ginger
1 t. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 t. oregano
2 T. minced onion
2 c. green enchilada sauce (reserve 1 cup)

Place pork in slow cooker and pour other ingredients over it. Cover and cook on low for about 9 hours, or until pork is done and tender. Shred pork and add remaining cups of brown sugar and enchilada sauce. Serve with tortillas, rice, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, etc.

CAFE RIO RICE
(I'm posting the original recipe, but I think we halved it for our family)

3 cups water
4 t. chicken bouillon
4 t. minced garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chilis
3/4 t. salt
1 T. butter
1/2 onion
3 cups rice

Blend cilantro, green chilis, and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients. Cover and simmer for 30 min. or until rice is done.

CAFE RIO CILANTRO RANCH SALAD DRESSING

1 packet Traditional Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not buttermilk)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
2 tomatillos, husked and diced (these were nowhere to be found at the two Wal-marts I looked in, so I left them out, but next time I want to try them!)
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (we kept the seeds out to keep it from being too spicy, but leave the seeds in if you like a lot of heat)

Mix all ingredients together in a blender.
Tip for dressing: I think it's best if you make it a little in advance (at least an hour or so) and then let it sit in the fridge a bit before serving.