Cafe Rio Style Pork Salad

Yay! Okay! Pork Salad! It's Delicious!

I found this recipe online -- you can google Cafe Rio Pork Salad and this is pretty much what you'll find. My photos of it turned out to be particularly bad, so I'm stealing this one from Favorite Family Recipes...via google. Sorry for the lack of recent photography, kids. But seriously, I think successfully photographing pork is something I can postpone until later. Right? Right.

So, here's how Kristen makes a Cafe Rio Pork Salad.  

#1. Cilantro lime rice. You can be fancy and make it from scratch OR you can purchase this box from Target, put everything in the box into your rice cooker, and 20 minutes later (it's like magic) you have cilantro lime rice. Here's the thing: If it's going at the bottom of a salad with the pork & sauce and the tomatillo dressing, it could taste like gravel and the salad would still be delicious. 

#2. Black beans with cilantro and tomatoes. Recipe forthcoming. It's easy and delish. Or if you're in a crunch, just buy a can of BLACK refried beans, because they are also easy and delish.

#3. Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing. This stuff is ridiculously good. (Recipe & Instructions Below)

#4. Lettuce. Get some. (also get cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa and chips. also get some friends because this makes enough to feed about 5 people.)

#5. The Delicious Pork. 

Okay, here are the recipes:

Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

Here's What You Need:

1 C Buttermilk

1 C Mayonnaise (I use the olive oil kind, because it makes me feel better)

1 Package of Original Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing/Seasoning

2 Tomatillos, pealed & quartered

1 Clove of Garlic

1/2 Bunch of Cilantro

Juice from 1 lime

Here's What you Do:

Put it all in the blender. Turn the blender on. Transfer into pretty container. Or don't. You pick. 

SuperDelicious Pork

Here's What You Need:

Roughly 2 lbs of Pork (I used a packaged pork tenderloin -- I've read that other people use boneless ribs or other cuts. I honestly don't really know the difference. I'm new to cooking meat.)

3-4 Cans of Coca Cola 

1 1/4 C of Brown Sugar, separated

1 T Garlic Salt

1/4 C of Water

1 Can of Red Enchilada Sauce (I use Target's Archer Farms Brand)

1 Small Can of Chopped Green Chiles

A Crock Pot 

Here's What You Do:

1. You put the pork in a plastic bag. Pour in 1&1/2 cans of coke and 1/4 C brown sugar. Marinate overnight, or three-ish hours. I've done it in three hours and it was just fine.

2. Drain the pork, then put the meat into your crock pot. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Add another can of coke and 1/4 cup of water, and cook on high for about 3 hours. Longer is fine (great if you have, say a three hour engagement on Sunday) but you don't want it to get too dry. 

3. While the pork is cooking, put the green chiles, enchilada sauce, 1 C brown sugar, and another 1/2 can of coke into your blender or food processor and give it a whirl. After the pork is done, drain it and shred it, put it back in the crock pot (if you took it out), and then pour the sauce over the top. Cook on low for an additional 2 hours.

4. Create the salad of your dreams! Enjoy!