Cafe Rio Recipes

(from Paige Beal)

Use all these Cafe Rio recipes (and Cynthia's pork recipe) to make a Cafe Rio style salad by layering a fresh cooked tortilla, beans, rice, and meat, then topping with lettuce, salsa, guacamole, tortilla chips, and Cilantro ranch dressing. I make the full portion of meat and rice, then freeze the leftovers in small bags, so I can defrost them and have a salad anytime!

Café Rio Cilantro Lime Grilled Chicken
Juice of 1 lime
2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbls. olive oil
½ bunch of cilantro finely chopped
¼ tsp. cumin
A good shot of chipotle sauce (optional)
¼ tsp.salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Juice for ½ a lime
Mix first 8 ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Add the chicken breasts and let marinade 1 hour.
On an open grill over high heat, cook the chicken on the first side about 6-7 minutes. Turn chicken over, close grill and cook again for about 5 minutes. Check the chicken for rawness and continue to cook covered until nearly done. It is ok to pull the chicken off a little early as it will continue to cook after it is off the heat. Cut chicken across the grain and while hot, squeeze the juice from the ½ lime over the cut pieces.
OR– Marinate chicken in bottle italian dressing, 1 tbsp cumin, 3 cloves minced garlic.

Café Rio Black Beans
1 (16 oz.) can black beans or prepared dried black bean
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp. cumin
fresh ground pepper
salt to taste
juice from ½ lime
In a medium saucepan, combine beans, onion, garlic, and cumin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. When beans are tender add pepper, salt, and lime juice. Simmer for 5 minutes more and serve.

Café Rio Cilantro Lime Rice (Freezes well--put in small bags with as much as your family will use in a meal)
2 tbls. olive oil
2 cups long grain rice
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
½ bunch cilantro chopped
4 cups chicken stock
¼ tsp. lime zest
juice from 1 lime
½ can (4 oz.) diced green chilies
salt & pepper to taste
In a medium-large saucepan cook rice and onion in the olive oil about 3 minutes or till rice is golden brown and onion is tender, stirring frequently so that each rice kernel is coated with oil. Add garlic and cilantro and cook just until cilantro is heated to release the fragrance. Stir in chicken stock, lime zest, lime juice, green chilies, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes or just till rice is tender.

Café rio Cilantro Ranch Dressing
Your favorite dry ranch dressing mix (such as Hidden Valley) prepared as directed on package using a blender.
Add 1 bunch of cilantro and a dash of Tabasco sauce to taste.
You can also add some prepared Salsa Verde (tomatillo salsa) that you can find in any grocery store in the Mexican isle.
OR 1 pkg buttermilk ranch; 2 tomatillos, ½ bunch cilantro, 1 clove garlic, juice of 1 lime, few drops tobasco–in blender.

Cynthia’s Shredded Pork
Boil a boneless pork roast in water w/ carrots, onion, celery & garlic for 3 hours. Shred, add some cumin & garlic, then either fry, or toss w/ oil & bake in 1 inch of juices at 350 up to one hour. Freezes well. When freezing, do so before cooking in oil. When ready to serve, defrost, then fry or bake in oil.