Cafe Rio, Move Over!

As promised, here is the recipe for the Pork Barbacoa Salad. While it is not one you are going to whip out in a half hour or so, it is worth every minute of preparation. The meat and rice can be used on quesadillas, in burritos etc. Do yourself a yummy favor and buy the uncooked tortillas (in the refrigerated section at the grocery store) instead of the regular tortillas. Then if you want to step it up, add some pico de gallo and guacamole. MMmmmm. . . I'm salivating just typing it up.

Pork
3-4 lb. pork roast (too much more and you'll need more sauce)
21 oz Rootbeer
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
7 oz. can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Cook roast in crock pot covered half way in water until tender. (I did mine over night for a lunch meal.) 4 hours before eating drain liquid from roast, remove any fat and make sauce:
Pour chipotles into a metal strainer over a metal or glass bowl (adobo sauce stains plastic, so unless you want a yucky mess, avoid plastic). Pour some of the rootbeer into the chili can to rinse out remaining sauce and pour that over the chilies to remove the sauce trapped within the chilies.** Add remaining ingredients to sauce bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Tear the roast into 2-3 large pieces and pour the sauce over it. Shred pork with a fork 1-2 hours before serving.

**Note: As is, this sauce has got a quite a bit of a kick. I added two of the chilies into the crock pot then removed before serving. This increased the heat quite a bit. . . but according to my family it was perfect. But I could eat it and love it just as much without that extra kick too.

Cilantro-Lime Rice w/ Black Beans
2 cups uncooked rice
1 tsp butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp lime zest
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
Cook in rice cooker, in microwave or on the stove.
When cooked, mix together and add:
2 TBSP lime juice
2 tsp sugar

Stir in:
3 TBSP fresh chopped cilantro
2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained

Note: I found a separate recipe for the black beans, but at this point I was tired of cooking so I just threw the black beans in with the rice. It was just as lovely and I'll definitely go this route again.

Tomatillo Dressing
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
3 tomatillos (remove papery skin)
1 cup mayo
1 cup butter milk
1 cup cilantro (roughly chopped)
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime

Add all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate.

Note: In hindsight, I would definitely make only half the dressing; it's a very big recipe.

To assemble salad, line a bowl with a tortilla, sprinkle a little shredded cheese (toast or microwave to melt the cheese for Cafe Rio authenticity) add beans and rice, then meat, lettuce, dressing, salsa, guacamole and a sprig of cilantro. Yum. I'll leave you with picture with a bit of a blurry close up. Happy cooking!