Café Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad with Tomatillo Dressing

SALAD ASSEMBLY (from bottom to top) 

• Tortillas
• Cheese (we like to melt the cheese onto the tortillas)
• Cafe Rio Rice (Recipe below)
• Cafe Rio Black Beans (Recipe below)
• Cafe Rio Sweet Pork (Recipe below)
• Lettuce (NOT iceberg, use leafy green or Romaine)
• Diced tomato, onion, and cilantro (pico de gallo)
• Guacamole (optional)
• Sour cream
• Tortilla Strips (can be found by the produce section at Smith's)
• Parmesan cheese
• Cafe Rio Tomatillo Ranch (Recipe below)
• Lime wedge to sprinkle on top of salad (optional)

SWEET PORK

• 2 pounds pork
• 3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• dash garlic salt
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 can sliced green chilies
• 3/4 can RED enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness)
• 1 c. brown sugar
  

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight. Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

• 1 c. uncooked rice
• 1 tsp. butter or margarine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. 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 in as you fluff the rice.

BLACK BEANS

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/3 c. tomato juice
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

TOMATILLO RANCH

• 1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
• 1 c. mayonnaise
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced (sold by garlic in produce section)
• 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)

Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!