Oh, Cafe Rio. In Provo, it can't be beat for affordable, delicious food. I love their tortilla soup, the delectable pork barbacoa, and of course salads with the excellent salad dressing. So, I was so excited when Abby made this recipe for the Cafe Rio salads. Thanks so much for cooking the great meal, Abby, and sharing the recipe with me. I made this for dinner yesterday and it was delicious. The dressing is very close to Cafe Rio's. Here are the recipes:
Chicken
5 lbs Chicken Brest – boneless, skinless
1 small bottle Zesty Italian Dressing
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
Mix all ingredients together in a large crock pot.
Cook on high for 5-7 hours.
Remove chicken and shred with fork.
Reserve a small amount of juice and pour over shredded chicken to keep moist.
Lime Rice
In a sauce pan, sauté:
2 Tbsp butter
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
In a large pot, bring the following to a boil:
6 2/3 cup water
8 tsp chicken bouillon
½ bunch cilantro,
2 tsp cumin
2 small cans diced green chilies
1 Tbsp lime juice
½ tsp salt
Add onion and garlic to boiling water.
Add 3 cups long grain rice.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
*I halved this recipe and used only 3 cubes of bouillon and left out the added salt.
Tomatillo Dressing
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing dry mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tomatillos, peel
½ - 1 clove garlic, minced
½ - 1/3 bunched cilantro, chopped
½ tsp lime juice
½ - 1 small Jalapeno, seeds removed
Blend ingredients together in a blender.
Add additional mayonnaise if dressing is too thin.
*I used 2 tomatillos and thought even a third would be good. Abby recommended refrigerating the dressing overnight and this really helped bring out the flavors.
To assemble the salad, layer chopped romaine, rice, chicken, beans (I used black beans), and serve with pico de gallo, cheese, guacamole and of course, the wonderful dressing. At Cafe Rio, they serve the salad in a huge warm tortilla that has melted cheese in it and top it with crispy tortilla strips. Yum! Now, if I could just make that pork!
2 comments:
hey ash! my mouth was drooling when i saw this recipe, so i HAD to give it a try! i only had a few of the ingredients on hand, so i had to get creative--it was delicious! thanks so much for sharing!
Ash- I am SO excited about this recipe. Be watching your inbox, I'll pass along a recipe for the pork barbacoa that one of my friends just passed along to me! I miss Cafe Rio, but I'm grateful to have friends that share their recipes!
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