Cafe Rio Pork and Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

I'm sure that most of you already have a tried and true Cafe Rio Pork and Salad Dressing recipe that you already use. I had never made it myself and I looked at many online and found that most of them were very similar. I ended up using those that I had the ingredients for and both the pork and the dressing came out great. Actually, I doctored up the dressing recipe until it tasted mostly how I remembered Cafe Rio's tasting, but when it was paired with the pork in a Cafe Rio style salad (tortilla on bottom, tons of lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, etc.) it was awesome! The pork recipe called for 1 can of coke (some called for Dr. Pepper), which I didn't have and didn't want to make a trip to the store for. I happened to have some root beer in the fridge leftover from a work party of Dustin's so I added that instead. It tasted authentic, so it must not make that big of a difference. I don't know why it took me so long to make this myself. I definitely won't be waiting so long to make it again. And sorry that you have to view my half eaten salad. It was so good that I forgot to take a picture until it was almost too late!

Pork Barbacoa

adapted from: www.communitybabycenter.com

3 lb. pork roast

16 oz. salsa

1 c. root beer

2 c. brown sugar

Put the roast in your crock pot and fill it halfway with water. Cook on high for 5 hours. Drain the liquid from the crock pot and cut the roast into 4 sections. Mix the root beer and brown sugar and pour it over the roast. Add the salsa and cook for 3 more hours. Shred with a fork and serve it in your favorite Cafe Rio way.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

2 Ranch packets

1 c. mayonnaise

1 c. buttermilk

1 c. chopped cilantro

4 tomatillos, cut into fourths

1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic

2 limes

In a food processor, chop the cilantro until it is finely chopped. Add the tomatillos and garlic. Squeeze the juice from both limes into the mixture. Here is a tip for getting the most out of your limes: beat them first on a counter top. My kids love to help me with this. Then just cut them in half and squeeze.

In a separate bowl combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk and ranch packets. If you don't have buttermilk, you can add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice to 1 c. of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the ranch mixture to the food processor and process it until well combined. Serve over the pork, and enjoy!