Cafe Rio Pulled Sweet Pork Salad

One of the things Colby and I miss most about Utah is Cafe Rio.  This restaurant is one of our top 3 favorites, probably #1.  Whenever we go back to Utah, even if it's for a short two-day trip, it is on our list of things to do.  Their creamy house dressing and portion sizes and everything about it is, well in our book - perfect.  A few years ago my sister, Laurel gave me their Pulled Sweet Pork copycat recipe along with their Cilantro Lime Rice recipe and Creamy House Dressing recipe.  We were sooooooo excited to say the least and I've probably been making it about once every other month ever since then.  It does take a little bit of work because there is a lot that goes into this salad, but it's all really easy and so incredibly worth it.  

Cafe Rio Pulled Sweet Pork
Yield: 6 servings

Note: Recently I've been making this with chicken instead of a pork roast.  We love it just as much, maybe even a little better because the chicken doesn't have as much fat as the pork.  If you decide to use chicken instead of pork put the raw chicken in the crock pot along with the combined coke, sugar and salsa and cook on low for 6 hours.  Then shred and continue with the directions as given below. 

Ingredients
Pulled Sweet Pork
3-4 lbs. pork roast
1 can coke
2 cups brown sugar
1 16 oz. bottle of salsa

Put the roast in the crock pot, fill crock pot 1/2 way up with water.  Cook on high for 5 hours.  Drain off water, cut pork into thirds.  Mix coke, sugar and salsa together, pour on top of pork.  Cook an additional 3 hours on high.  Shred pork with a fork, return to crock pot and leave on low or "keep warm" until ready to serve.

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 tablespoons oil
1 lb. long grain rice (3 cups)
2 limes, juiced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

Heat oil in a large pot then add rice, garlic and cilantro.  Saute 3-5 minutes.  Add 4 cups water and lime juice to the pot.  Bring water to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes.  Take off heat, fluff with a fork, cover again and keep covered until ready to serve.

Creamy House Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (Hidden Valley Ranch recommended)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise (DO NOT use low fat or fat free)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lime, juiced

Use a food processor or blender to mix all the ingredients well.  Refrigerate at least 1-2 hours before serving.

Other Ingredients
4-6 burrito-sized tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese
1 can black beans
Romaine lettuce, chopped
salsa, optional
sour cream, optional
Tortilla chips, optional

Directions
Put the oven on the "broil" setting.  Place tortilla shells in 9" round cake pans and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.  Place pans in the oven on the top rack until the cheese has melted - this takes just a few minutes.  It'll burn quickly if you don't watch it closely.  Remove from the oven and add rice, pulled pork, black beans, romaine lettuce, creamy dressing, salsa and sour cream.  Cafe Rio adds little strips of tortilla chips on top if you'd like to add those too.


Recipe Source: My sister, Laurel Larsen