Craving Cafe Rio After Hours? No Fear...Lisa's Here!

We love Cafe Rio Pork Salad. So when Blaine smoked a couple of pork butts we decided to see how close we could come to recreating this salad. The thing that makes it so good is the dressing.  My homemade tortillas didn't turn out at all, so raw tortillas from the grocery store fill the tab for me, plus it's easy. I'm sure there are lots of ways to cut corners on this, but I didn't mind the extra effort with making the tortilla strips, the guacamole, the Cafe Rio Rice and Cilantro Ranch.  It was a hit at my house, hope it is at yours too! 

Here's what you'll need:

6 large tortillas

Shredded cheese, mexican blend

Cilantro Lime Rice (recipe below)

Black Beans

Sweet Pork (recipe below)

Lettuce (leafy green or romaine)

Diced tomato, onion and cilantro (pico de gallo)

Guacamole (recipe below)

sour cream

tortilla strips

Parmesan cheese

Cilantro Ranch dressing (recipe below)

Here's how to assemble the salad.

First off use deep dish aluminum pans, just for fun. Lay a cooked tortilla in the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with cheese and heat in the oven until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven add black beans, rice, pork, lettuce and a scoop of diced tomato and onions (pico de gallo). Add guac and sour cream. Top with crushed tortilla chips ( we fried corn tortillas cut into strips) a shake of parm cheese and top with a few sprigs of cilantro leaves.  Serve with cilantro ranch dressing!! Yay, so good!

Below are recipes for the pork, rice, dressing, and guacamole.

There are four different recipes listed for all of the different ingredients.

I found a recipe for the sweet pork, but I haven't tried it since Blaine takes care of the pork for me.

Sweet Pork:

2 pounds pork

3 cans Coke (not diet)

1/4 c. brown sugar

dash garlic salt 

1/4 c. water

1 can diced green chilies

3/4 can red enchilada sauce (medium heat)

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 1/4 c. brown sugar. Marinade a few hours or over night.  Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can coke, water, and garlic salt in the crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours. (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 of Coke, enchilada sauce and remaing brown sugar.  If it looks too thick add more Coke. Put por and sauce back into crock pot and cook for two more hours.  That's it!

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 c. uncooked rice

1 tsp. butter or marg.

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. freshly lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 cup water

1 T. fresh lime juice

2 tsp sugar

3 T 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 min. 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.  You can do this in your rice cooker as well. 

Cilantro Ranch:

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not buttermilk)

1 c. mayo

1 c. buttermilk

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno (remove seeds if you like it mild)

Mix all ingredients in a blender...that's it!!

The Best EVER Guacamole:

3 avocados

1/4 c. red onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro leaves chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

1 large ripe tomato or 2 smaller diced

juice of 1 lime

4 shakes green Tabasco

kosher salt to taste

fresh cracked pepper

Pit avocados and mash in a bowl. If you like it chunky just use a fork. Carefully stir in remaining ingredients until mixed well!