Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad

Doesn't the name just make your tastebuds burst? Mmm. I love this stuff, I think I could live off of it, I'm not gonna lie. I learned how to make it back in Young Women's, but lost the card recently (It'll turn up once I move everything...), so I recite it to you now from memory. Good memory, don't worry.. it tastes good!

What goes into the salad:
Romaine lettuce
Sweet pork
Black beans
Mexican rice
Corn
Tomatoes
Cheese
Tortilla strips
Creamy tomatillo dressing

... Really you can throw in anything you want. Sauteed onions are also tasty. Making everything is rather self explanatory. The only parts you need recipes for are the pork and the dressing.



Sweet Pork:
Get a huge pork roast (preferrably boneless) and stick it in the crock pot on high for 6-7 hours. Also pour in a cup of water and sprinkle generously with sugar. It's great because you can stick it in in the morning and leave it all day.
When it's done, take it out and shred it with two forks. It's so tender it'll just fall into chunks, so it's not hard to shred.
Put it into a big bowl and mix in ketchup, honey bbq sauce, garlic salt and sugar. I'd start with a cup of each (ketchup and bbq sauce), but then put more in a little at a time until it's good and moist. Add garlic salt to taste. Add about 2/3 of a cup of sugar.. or until it tastes sweet enough.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing:
1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup salsa verde
handful of fresh cilantro
lime juice
Stick all the ingredients in a blender and let it go until it's a creamy sauce. It takes a little while, so be patient. You can take away/add things to taste here, also. You can also throw in jalepenos if you want, we're just not that into the spicy stuff.



We also tried something new this time. We took all the tortillas, put them in pie pans (one at a time), sprinkled them with cheese, and broiled them in the oven 'til they were a crispy golden brown and the cheese was melted. Then we put them in large bowls/plates, piled everything on, poured on the dressing, and crumbled tortilla chips on top.

Very tasty :) Sorry the directions are so sketchy.. I just play with the ingredients a little each time. Try it, though, it's pretty quick and REALLY good.