Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad

Ok so I know that this blog is for documenting my home DIY projects, BUT I don't think anyone will complain that I am craving Cafe Rio right now, so I decided to post this. I didn't make this tonight because my husband is on night float and I don't ever see him, and 2 of my 3 boys are sick.... I just found myself thinking of all the yummy food I wished I could be eating right now. Unfortunately, Cafe Rio kept popping into my head. I say unfortunately because we don't have Cafe Rio out here!!! To make a long story short, I'm just reposting a post I did on our family blog (which is on private settings do to spammers) a while back, It is resparking my love and I WILL make it again in a few weeks when we have dinner guests over. If I have any readers who don't know what Cafe Rio is or have never tried it, YOU WILL LOVE THIS.....MAKE IT TONIGHT, AND YOU WILL BE A CAFE RIO BELIEVER FOR LIFE!!!


My husband and I love the Sweet Pork Salad from Café Rio. I did some looking around and found some close recipe's and then tweaked them a bit to get a salad that tastes EXACTLY like Café Rio's.

Sweet Pork

1 pork roast (2-3lbs)
salt & pepper
1 garlic clove (minced)
water
enchilada sauce (to taste)
brown sugar (to taste)
2 cans Dr. Pepper
1 small can green chilies

Salt and pepper roast to taste, put roast and garlic in a crockpot, add water (fill a small crockpot about half full) and cook on low for about 5 hours. Remove roast, drain water (and remove any fat or drippings), and return roast to crock pot. Add 1 can of Dr. Pepper and 1/2 c. of brown sugar (to start off with). Let roast cook on low 3 more hours (at this point you can pull your pork apart, break it into 3 or 4 chunks but don't shred or pull it completely). Transfer roast (including any liquid) to a large skillet and pull apart. At this point it all becomes your tastes. Add green chilies, enchilada sauce, more brown sugar and Dr. Pepper (obviously the more b. sugar and Dr. Pepper you add the sweeter it is and by adding more enchilada sauce it becomes less sweet).

Rice

4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic –minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion


Chop cilantro and onions (very fine). Add all ingredients with your rice and make your rice according to your rice package (make 3-4 servings).

Café Rio (Yummy) Tomatillo Dressing

1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe, reduce buttermilk and mayo by 3/4 c if you want a thicker dressing)
2 tomatillos (I like to use 3 for a little more tomatillo flavor)
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeño (remove seeds if you don't want it spicy)

Put all ingredients in food processor or blender and then refrigerate for at least 30 min so dressing can thicken.

Extra Things Needed
Black beans, Tortillas, Guacamole, Pico de gallo, Cheese, and Romaine lettuce

Okay those are the main ingredients. I bought some tins from the store (so it would really feel like Café Rio), and wrap style tortillas (I used sun dried tomato wrap tortillas because they are really thin like Café Rio's tortillas). Sprinkle a little cheese on the tortillas and then warm in the oven (just until cheese is beginning to melt), remove and place in tin, add rice some black beans, and pork. Top with lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, slice of lime, and tortilla strips ( couldn't find any so I made my own). Put as much or as little of the tomatillo dressing as you like and ENJOY!!!!

My husband absolutely loved every bite!


Also if you want to be a real go getter you can make your own tortillas, I found this on pintrest