Yo quiero Cafe Rio!

I realized something odd when I moved to PA-- there is an obvious lack of Mexican food restaurants. Seriously, Taco Bell is about as authentic as it gets out here. When I mentioned this to Sean, he said he thinks it is because the Latino people he meets out here are not from Mexico, rather places like Spain. Sorta makes sense. Needless to say, we’ve been missing Mexican food! And as with every other summer, we’ve been missing Café Rio—not that it is really Mexican food, but whatever.

Taryn and my sister-in-law have both given me Café Rio knock-off recipes for the sweet pork salad and this week I finally decided to give it a shot. Their recipes were different, so I went through and combined the things I liked from the two and made my own.

I figured if I was going to go through all of the effort to try and re-create the salad (seriously, when you look at the recipe you will see it is no light-weight commitment!) I should try to make it as close to the original as possible. This means I was a total nerd and even bought the little tin pans to serve the salad in. Oh, and since the grocery store’s only option for the tortilla strips was Fritos, I actually bought corn tortillas and fried my own. Again, I already admitted to being a nerd and just remember I have A LOT of free time people.

Final product:

Surprisingly, it was pretty darn good. It tasted a lot more like the real thing than I thought it would. I think the salad dressing is what made it taste most like the original. The pork was totally sweet and it truly did make me feel like I was eating a salad from the restaurant. I swear those tin pans made a difference! I will probably never go through the effort to make this at home again since I am going home soon and Café Rio really is amazing and a bargain (and a lot less work). It is a good option for those who miss it and aren’t in Utah though.

Here is the recipe I used in case you are interested in giving it a whirl yourself.
Note: I am not responsible for any writer’s cramp you experience as a result from writing this down.

Dressing:
1 1/3 c. sour cream
¾ c. mayo
1 bunch cilantro
1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 small tomatillos
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

Blend all ingredients together in blender.

Rice:
2 Tbs. butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
3 c. uncooked rice
4 c. water
4 tsp. chicken bullion
½ c. chopped cilantro
¾ tsp. salt
1 tsp. lime zest
2 Tbs. lime juice
2 Tbs. sugar

Saute onion and garlic in butter til soft. Add rest of ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover with lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

Pork:
Pork roast (mine was 2 lbs. and it was plenty for 4 or 5 big salads)
1 cup mild salsa
1 can Coke or Pepsi
2 c. brown sugar

Put pork roast in slow cooker. Mix rest of ingredients together and pour over pork. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

Assembly instructions:
Melt a small amount of shredded cheese onto a flour tortilla. Layer the following on top of the tortilla: rice, beans (black or pinto) that have been warmed, pork, shredded Romaine lettuce, pico de gallo (I made my own with chopped Roma tomatoes, onions and cilantro), a scoop of guacamole, a lime wedge, tortilla strips, and finally a shake of parmesan cheese.