A Really Great Recipe

I have to admit it--I am one of the 99.9% of mormons that LOVE Cafe Rio. For those of you who aren't in the know about this fabulous place, every time you walk in to a restaurant, you must wait in a line almost out the door full of people who just have that mormon look about them. In fact, once when we were there, we saw our stake president and his entire extended family, and about 3 other unrelated LDS families. This is not an unusual occurence at this restaurant. Anyway, the food is fabulous-In fact, Jon and I became so infatuated with their pork salad, that we searched high and low to find a recipe that comes close to replicating that sweet, juicy, succulent, ooey gooey (I could go on describing just how yummy I think it is, but you probably get the point) pork. After a few attemps, I beleive I have perfected a great adaptation of the pork salad. So, I invite one and all to give it a go. You WILL NOT regret it!

Meat:
1-3lb pork loin (substitute 4-5 large boneless skinless chicken breasts if desired)
2 C brown sugar
1 can of CHERRY Coke
½ C water
1 jar of Salsa-the smaller kind (medium heat)
Season w/ Dried Onions, Salt and Pepper
Place ingredients into Crockpot on high for 3-4 hours; ½ hr before taking it out, place on low and shred meat.

Dressing:
1 packet of Ranch Seasoning mix (follow directions on packet for making Ranch)
2 tomatillos
1-2 fresh small green chilies (2 is obviously pretty darn hot)
2 squirts of lime juice
1 clove of garlic
Fresh Cilantro (to taste-I think it’s disgusting if you can actually taste it, but it will give it that green look that you like)
In a blender or food processor blend garlic, tomatillos and chilies; pour in ranch dressing and lime juice; blend together until everything is smooth and creamy.

Rice:
1-2 boxes of Rice a Roni (Mexican Rice)
Follow instructions on packet

Beans:
1-2 cans of black beans
Stir over Med heat

Other Ingredients:
Tortilla chips
Lettuce (I use either Romaine or Spinach)

Put it all together:
I put it in this order because I think this is the order that Café Rio does—although I don’t think it really matters, it all gets pretty mashed together anyway.
1. Beans
2. Rice
3. Meat (make sure to drizzle a little bit of that sweet juice over the top, but you don’t want to get it too runny)
4. Lettuce
5. Chips (crumbled)
6. Dressing

Optional topping:

Fresh Guacamole:
4 ripe avocados
2 tsp lime/lemon/even orange juice
Raw white onion (chopped) to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
A few shakes of Garlic powder
Blend onion in food processor until smoothe, add avocados, lime juice, salt & pepper and garlic powder. Blend all ingredients together, but not for too long (we like to have chunks of avocado in our guac)

This is probably 4-8 servings (depending on how much you eat/serving). I’ve found that if you cook a pork loin, the meat will last for a few more meals. Meat is also yummy on sandwiches.

Enjoy!!