Cafe Río-style Sweet Pork Salad

The first step is to make the pork, start it about 5-6 hours before you would like to serve dinner.

Crockpot Sweet Pork

 3-4 lbs pork (I use 4 bone-in pork chops)

garlic salt

1 can Coke or Dr. Pepper (not diet)

16 oz. salsa

4 oz can green chilies

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

1 Tbsp cumin

1 cup brown sugar

Sprinkle pork with garlic salt (if using a pork roast, cut into fist sized chunks, pork chops can be left whole) and place in crock pot.

Pour in 1 cup of water and can of soda. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or until it can be shredded easily. Remove bones and shred pork.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for another hour.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 cup uncooked rice

1 tsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chicken stock

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix into rice.

As the rice cooks, prepare dressing:

Cilantro Ranch

1 packet Traditional Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not buttermilk)

1 cup mayo

1 cup buttermilk

2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeño, seeded

Mix all ingredients together in the blender.

To assemble:

Heat tortillas (1 tortilla per salad) with monterey jack and cheddar sprinkled on them in oven at 350F for about 5 minutes, until cheese melts.

Top with warmed black beans then Cilantro-Lime Rice. Add pork (use a slotted spoon to remove from crock pot).

Add lettuce, salsa or pico de gallo, sour cream and/or guacamole, dressing and (optional) garnish: crushed tortilla chips, a shake of Parmesan cheese, and cilantro. Enjoy your salad, Cafe Río in the comfort of your own home!