CAFE RIO SWEET PORK SALAD

Pinto Beans

32 oz. dry pinto beans

12 cups of water

2 tablespoons salt

1/2 onion

3 cloves of garlic (peeled)

In a slow cooker, place the half onion and garlic in the bottom. Pour in the dry beans and add the water and salt. Cook for 5-7 hours or until beans are soft and have turned a light brown color. After you are done cooking the beans, you can remove the onion and garlic.  This recipe can also be cut down if you don't want as many beans and don't plan on freezing the leftovers.

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 cup of Rice

2 cups of chicken stock

3 Tablespoons lime juice

lime zest

1/3 cup of cilantro (chopped)

In a heavy pot, bring 2 cups of chicken stock to a boil. Add lime juice and rice. Allow to cook until rice is soft but not too mushy. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Grate some lime zest over the top.

Slow Cooked Sweet Pork

1 to 4 lbs of pork (shoulder or butt...or tenderloin would work too)
2  15 oz. cans of tomato sauce
2 cups of dark brown sugar
20 oz. Dr. Pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup of cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons of chili powder

In a large bowl combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, Dr. Pepper, garlic cloves, cilantro, and chili powder with a wisk. Place fresh or completely thawed pork into slow cooker. Pour tomato sauce mixture over the top. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours (or until pork easily falls apart).

Remove some of the liquid. (Be careful because liquid will be very hot) Use two forks to shred meat. It should shred easily. If it doesn't, then it needs to cook some more.

Tomatillo Dressing

8 tomatillos cut into large pieces
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of cilantro
1 jalepena pepper (remove the seeds and top)
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
3/4 cup mayonaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1/8 cup of Buttermilk

1. In a food processor or blender, blend tomatillos until runny and smooth in texture. Add garlic, cilantro, pepper, ranch mix, hot sauce, and lime juice. Blend.

2. Pour mixture into a glass bowl. Wisk in mayonaise and sour cream until completely combined. Add buttermilk. Stir well. Store in the fridge, tightly covered.

Note: I have found that if you use a food processor for the first part, the tomatillo is chopped up better and there are less chunks of tomatillo in your dressing.  This dressing is good for about 2 weeks in the fridge.

For assembly of a "sweet pork salad"...

Layer the following on your plate...

Hot pinto or black beans

Cilantro lime rice

Sweet pork

Lettuce, tomatoes, cheese

Top with...

Tomatillo dressing, mashed avacado

Yum! I guarantee you will LOVE this and probably eat much more than you should!