Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Cafe Rio Pork or Chicken Salad!!!! WONDERFUL!

I got all these recipes from except the chicken from:
http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html
So I used raw Tortilla shells from Costco for these and fried them up!  I love them!

Pork-
2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)
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 enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)
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) or on low for 8 hours. 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 crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!
.
You know me I never follow exactly!  I added the spicy stuff from the food processor straight into the crockpot with the marinade, I liked that it wasn't covered in enchilada sauce, but it had the taste!

RICE:

I am not going to share the recipe, you can follow the link and find it, because I like the lime rice recipe that Patti has already shared on this blog much MUCH better!!
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")
 
And the MOST important part!

The Cilantro Lime Dressing!

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 jalepeno (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!

We also did Avocados instead of guacamole, shredded cheese & some of my homemade salsa.

It was perfect!  and I am excited to have it again today!!! 

of and for the chicken I used this recipe:
Chicken

5 lbs chicken breast- boneless skinless
Some zesty Italian dressing
1 Tbsp chili powder, I used crushed red pepper
1 Tpsp cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
Mix all ingredients together in a large crock pot.
Cook on high for 5-7 hours. Remove chicken and shred with fork. Reserve a small amount of juice and pour over shredded chicken to keep moist. Keep warm.  I also added most of a can of caffeine free Pepsi after I shredded it, and returned it to all juices it cooked in!  :)


Sunday, July 6, 2008

Cafe Rio Copy Cat Recipes

Okay so I finally tried some of these recipes

The Chicken is very good, the dressing was a little hot but if I remember right that is how Cafe Rio's is too.... I haven't eaten a salad there for awhile. I thought about trying that lime rice recipe but the one Patti posted on this site is good enough for me!

Chicken

5 lbs chicken breast- boneless skinless
1 small bottle zesty italitan dressing
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tpsp cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
Mix all ingredients together in a large crock pot.
Cook on high for 5-7 hours. Remove chicken and shred with fork. Reserve a small amount of juice and pour over shredded chicken to keep moist. Keep warm.

Cilantro Lime Dressing
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing dry mix (There is a subsitution for this you can make from scratch in my book.)

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

1-2 tomatillos, peel

1 clove garlic minced

1/3 bunch cillantro, chopped

1/2 tsp lime juice

1/2 small jalapeno, seeds removed

Blend ingredients together in a blender. Add additional mayonnaise if dressing is too thin. Keep refrigerated. I tired using Plain Yogurt in place on Mayo and it was just fine.


other copy cat recipes


Thursday, April 10, 2008

Rainbow Fruit Salad

1 large Mango, peeled and diced
2C fresh blueberries
2 banans sliced
2C fresh strawberries sliced
2C seedless grapes
2nectarines, unpeeled and sliced
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced

honey orange sauce
1/3 C unsweetened orange juice
2 T lemon juice
1.5 T Honey (I use agave nectar instead)
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 dash nutmeg

prepare and combine the fruit.

Combine all ingredients for the sauce and mix

Just before serving, pour the sauce over the fruit.

You can very easily substitute or add in different fruits by what is in season.

I got this recipe on the back of the IHC Insurance magazine we get from time to time.

It is a Yummy Salad you can easily make and there is NO sugar added! YAY.

Everyone that had some loved it!