Thursday, February 27, 2025

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad/ Burritos

I found a copycat Cafe Rio recipe, and we've been shortening and improving it for our taste since then. Here's what we do!

Homemade Cafe Rio Night

Sweet Pork

2 lbs. pork meat, cooked (I buy a pkg. of smoked pulled pork from Costco)
1 can Rosarita red enchilada sauce
1-2 cans green chilis
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
Optional: 2 T. red chili pepper
                1/2 can Coke or Dr. Pepper

Warm up together. 

Optional: Cook in crock pot with more complicated recipe: search copycat recipe online. It's good.





Cilantro Lime Rice

Your favorite rice to cook in rice cooker
For each cup of water add:
1 t. chicken bouillon powder
1 t. garlic, minced
1/2 T. butter

Cook in rice cooker. 

When done cooking, add for each cup water:
1 T. lime juice
2 T. cilantro, chopped
1/2 T. sugar

Mix very well. Sometimes it's better if I take it out, mix it in a large bowl, and add it back into the warm rice cooker to serve.

Feel free to add as much of the mix-ins as you want. I usually had more cilantro than this, and more sugar at times.



Garlic Black Beans

1 T. garlic, olive oil
1 t. cumin 
2 cans black beans, drained
1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 small bunch cilantro, chopped

Cook garlic & cumin in olive oil. Add rest of ingredients and warm through.


Cilantro Ranch Dressing

1 c. buttermilk (or reg)
1 c. mayo
4-5 T. dry ranch powder 
1/4 -1/2 c. salsa verde (instead of tomatillos)
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 T. lime juice
1 small jalapeno. Take seeds out for mild, leave a few in for spicy!

If you don't have buttermilk, add the milk first, by itself, and pour 1 T. white vinegar (per cup of milk) into the blender. Mix on low for two seconds, and let it stand for 5-10 min. Done! You have buttermilk!

Add all other ingredients, and blend on full smoothie setting. Let it get very, very blended, so the green gets fully incorporated from the cilantro.

Tip: if blender has measurements on the side, add milk and mayo first, so you don't have to use measuring cups/ wash more dishes.


Serving

Serve pork, rice, and beans as a salad or burrito option with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro ranch dressing, diced onion, diced tomatoes, corn, salsa, guacamole, olives, lettuce, parmesan, lime wedges, fresh cilantro, and tortilla chips.

Option: Have a warming griddle or pan so guests can warm their tortilla before they start filling it. Or, fill your tortilla and sautè each side in butter. 




Sometimes we heat our tortillas with butter!

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