Cafe Rio salad

I made this for dinner and it was SO GOOD, i was quite impressed. It was delicious and the closest to cafe rio/costa vida I have come across.

I am going to post the recipe from the blog that I used . . . and then after each recipe I will post the ways I tweeked it in red . . cause i don't know how to follow a recipe exactly.

SWEET PORK
2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can RED enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
1 c. brown sugar
Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half 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 until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a 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 crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

I used Dr. Pepper instead of Coke, I did not marinate the meat the night before . . . Instead I just put some brown sugar into the crock pot in the morning during the first cooking with the other ingredients. I doubled the amount of meat so we would have leftovers . . so I did double the ingredients and cooked the meat before shredding for about 5 hours.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, 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 lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

I used instant rice . . . and it was still absolutely delicous. Also doubled this recipe.

BLACK BEANS
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

I did add the corn, and it was really good!

CILANTRO RANCH
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch 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 (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!

I just used Ranch Dressing (2 cups) from the bottle instead of the mix with mayo and buttermilk. It was still really good . . . and I used 1/2 the seeds from the jalepeno and it was still quite spicy!

We just put some cheese on flour tortillas and put them in the oven for 5 min . . . then added the meat, rice and beans . . . with lettuce, tomato/onion and the dressing. Big hit.

We fed 4 people . . . tons of meat and beans leftover (maybe cause my hubby won't eat them) . . . and just a tiny bit of rice leftover. We used about 1/2 the dressing.