Cafe Rio Goodness

Above is a photo of a salad made by Cafe Rio. This restaurant is very popular in the West for a very good reason. It's divine. I fast and pray that they will open a location near me someday. There is a great famine of good Mexican restaurants in this great state of Massachusetts. That said, I am frequently trying to find recipes that will satisfy my need for good Mexican. This is one of them. There are a lot of parts to this goodness. And my creations don't look necessarily look like the above photo. (I don't use a tortilla on the bottom - but you can - and I don't have tortilla strips on the top - again, you can.) The nice thing is that you can really tweak this to your preferences. 

(None of these pictures are mine... sorry I didn't give photo credits.)

CAFE RIO CILANTRO RANCH DRESSING

This dressing is divine. You can use it on any salad. Very very tasty. And a must for anything you want to call "Cafe Rio". 

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix (NOT buttermilk)

1 c. mayonnaise

1 c. buttermilk

2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno (to taste - I use about 1/4 a jalapeño and no seeds. I just can't do spicy like I used to.) 

Mix all ingredients together until WELL BLENDED. (I've had to dump it back into the blender a couple of times because I found some rogue tomatillo pieces when pouring it out.) 

PRINTABLE RECIPE 

CAFE RIO CILANTRO LIME RICE

1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 c. water

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

2 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 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine 1 Tbsp. lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE 

CAFE RIO SWEET PORK 

2 lb. pork (something boneless - keep it simple)

3 cans Coca-Cola (NOT diet!)

1/4 c. brown sugar

dash garlic salt

1/4 c. water

1 can diced green chilies

3/4 can (10 oz.?) red enchilada sauce

1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziplock bag to marinate. Add about 1 1/2 cans of Coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight. Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of Coke, water and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours or low for 8 hours (until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork. 

In a food processor/blender, blend 1/2 can of Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about 1 cup - you can add a little more or less to taste.) If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little. Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. Enjoy! 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

I usually build a salad with some lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, fresh diced tomatoes. Really anything you want and it's all DIVINE!