Cafe Rio-Inspired Mexican Pork Salad

This is our version of a Cafe Rio pork salad. It is NOT the exact Cafe Rio Recipe, but it is our own healthier and easier to make version. Also, it is REALLY YUMMY! We stared making it this year when we moved a 12-hour drive away from the nearest Cafe Rio (I got Zac hooked during the little time he was in Utah last year).

Now, this isn't a health food recipe. Especially the pork, as you will notice, has a lot of fat, sugar, and calories. But this recipe does cut down a lot from the original Cafe Rio recipe, especially in the dressing and rice.

Cafe Rio-Inspired Mexican Pork Salad

In a round tin pan, bake a tortilla sprinkled with cheese. When melted, add beans, cilantro rice, and sweet pork on top of tortilla. Fill tin with chopped red or green leaf lettuce. Top with cheese, sour cream, lime, guacamole, tortilla strips (we use crushed tortilla chips), salsa (see our recipe for fresh salsa) and creamy tomatillo dressing.

Sweet Pork

Ingredients:

One Medium to Large Pork Roast

1 c Coca-cola

1 c red enchilada sauce (ketchup or tomato sauce also works)

1 c light brown sugar

2 tbsps minced garlic

salt

pepper

Directions:

In the morning, rub the pork roast with salt pepper and garlic. Put in a crockpot with the 1c coke and cook 4-5 hours or until cooked through and starts falling apart. At this point, pull pork roast from crockpot to a baking sheet or cutting board. Pour out coke and wash out crockpot. With two forks, shred pork back into crockpot. Add the enchilada sauce and brown sugar to the pork. If you want it sweeter, you can add another 1/2 c. of brown sugar. Mix together and let warm in crockpot for another hour or so.

Cilantro Rice

Ingredients:

2 c brown rice

1 smal fistfull (appx. 1/4 c) of chopped fresh cilantro or 2 tbsp dried cilantro

3/4 c green enchilada sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Cook brown rice according to package. When rice is thoroughly cooked, stir in enchilada sauce, cilantro, and spices.

Black Beans

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

Directions:

Heat black beans in a pot on medium heat. Stir in seasonings.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

Ingredients:

1 c mayonnaise (I recommend using light)

1 c sour cream ( I recommend using light)

1/2 c milk ( I recommend using skim, it works just fine)

1 small fistful (appx. 1/4 c) of chopped fresh cilantro or 2 tbsp dried cilantro

3 tomatillos

3 seeded jalapeños

1 limes, juice of

1-2 tsp salt

2 garlic cloves

1 packet fat-free original ranch dip mix

Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender and mix until smooth. Refrigerate. You can also replace the cilantro with 1/4 cup of your favorite salsa. Leave seeds in 1 or all of the jalapeños to add spice. Pour over salad as dressing.

Notes:

I made these salads this week to take to a friend who just had a baby so we got to eat it as well.... and had enough for leftovers. This recipe will make about eight salads. It is also well worth all the trouble it is to make it. It's AMAZING!

Strawberry Smoothie or Smoothie Pops

Zac came up with this simple recipe. It makes for a great smoothie, or popsicles if you freeze them.

Strawberry Smoothie or Smoothie Pops

Ingredients:

2 c milk

2 c frozen strawberries

1 large banana

1 c lowfat vanilla yogurt

3 tbsps honey

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsps sugar/Splenda/sweetener of choice

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. If you have a disabled blender, like we do, you can add the strawberries a bit at a time as you blend. If you want to make them into smoothie popsicles, pour them into popsicle forms or ice cube trays and freeze.

Strawberry Pancake Topping

This is the topping I use for pancakes. It is great!

Strawberry Pancake Topping

Ingredients:

2 c frozen strawberries

2 tbsps whole wheat flour

1 tsp sugar/splenda/ sweetner of choice

Directions:

Let strawberries thaw just a bit, then cut them into quarters. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and over medium heat. Let simmer. If it gets too thick, add a tbsp or two of water to desired consistency.

Whole Wheat Banana (Nut) Pankakes

I get some of my recipes and inspiration from different blogs and webistes. One of my favorites is www.greenlitebites.com . This morning I took her recipe for banana pancakes and mophed it a little bit into my own. I also took her recipe for blueberry topping and changed it into stawberry topping, since I only had frozen stawberries, not frozen blueberries. I will put this recipe in a separate post. I mention this blog because I always want to give credit where credit is due. Not all of these recipes are my own of course.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 large very ripe banna

3/4 c skim milk

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 c whole oats

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Cut banana is into small pieces and, in a large bowl, mash them. If you like some chunks (like I do) leave some chunks; if you don't, mash the banana completely. Add milk, egg and banana and wisk. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Slowly wisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Cook on a griddle sprayed with non-stick spray at 325 degrees or on a skillet on medium heat.

Notes:

Makes about 6 meduim-sized pancakes.

* I took a pic, but can't get it off the camera right now so when I can or make them again I will post a picture.

Zac's Seriously Good, Seriously Fresh Salsa

Last fall, Zac spent about two days in our kitchen chopping, dicing, mixing, blending, and tasting different salsa recipes to create a perfect salsa. I think he totally found it. This is embarrassing, but over the winter, we made this at least once a week and always finished it off in less than three days. And it makes A LOT of salsa. You should really try it.

Zac's Seriously Good, Seriously Fresh Salsa

Ingredients

10 roma or 8 regular tomatoes

1 medium white onion

3 jalapenos

1 green bell pepper

1 bunch (about 2 fistfuls) cilantro

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tbsps chili powder

2 tsps cumin

2 tsps paprika

1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/2 c white vinegar

3 tbsps lime juice

salt

Directions

Finely dice all vegetables. When dicing, cut off cilantro stems and core the tomato and the jalapeno (you don't want the seeds of the jalapenos or the slimy guts of the tomato). First, mix all green and white veggies in bowl. Second, add tomatoes, seasonings, and vinegar, lime juice and lightly mix again. If you mix the tomatoes too much they get mushy. Salt to taste.

NotesYou can chop the onions and peppers in the food processor, but we chop everything else by hand while watching TV shows on Hulu. It takes quite a while, but it makes for the best consistency.

Spinach Chicken Salad

Spinach Chicken Salad

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 tbsps olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash ( I use the Mrs. Dash varieties a lot. They are fabulous and salt-free!)

10 oz. bag of spinach, pre-cut and washed (though washing again is always recommended)

1/4 c. walnuts or almonds

1 c. green or red grapes

1/3 c. Feta, Bleu or Gorgonzola cheese

Raspberry Vinigarette dressing or other dressing of choice

Directions:

Cut breasts into cubes. Pan-fry chicken in the olive oil and season with the salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash. Put all ingredients into a big bowl together. Pretty easy.

Notes:

As with any salad, you can add or take away any ingredients you like.

Roasted Red Potatoes

I threw together two simple recipes tonight, a spinach chicken salad and roasted red potatoes. I thought I may as well jot down what I put in my salads at least and how I do the potatoes. I have some good ideas and a few tricks to share. In the future, however we will try to put some more complex recipes on here so it's not boring. :)

Roasted Red Potatoes

6 medium red potatoes

3 tbsps olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and cut potatoes into quarters. Mix the olive oil salt and pepper onto the potatoes in either a big bowl or a large zip-lock bag. Make sure coverage is even. Spread potatoes evenly onto a large cookie sheet covered in tinfoil. Put oven rack on the second lowest possible position. Roast in oven for 20 minutes then check potatoes. They may need 5-10 more minutes of roasting time. When cooked through, remove potatoes. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.

Note:

I know this is kind of a no-brainer, but it's easy, fast and SO yummy!

Sweet Potato Wedges

We like fries but try to do them with a healthy and creative spin. This is the recipe for our sweet potato wedges. They are pretty dang yummy and have all the nutrition benefits of a sweet potato. Win, win!

Sweet Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Dut the sweet potates into wedges. This can be a fairly difficult task as they are dense and hard to cut. Do your best. Put oil and seasonings into a gallon-sized freezer or strorage bag. Add potato wedges to bag, seal and mix the bag around so the potaoes get evenly seasoned and oiled. Place seasoned wedges on a large cookie sheet covered in tin foil. Bake in oven for 3o to 35 minutes or unitl cooked through and crisp. If they don't get crispy and are limp, you can turn the oven up to 400 for a mintue or two. This helps get them crispy but also can burn the edges. Remove and cool.

Notes:

Makes 2 or 3 servings depending on your serivng size. This makes 2 servings for us. We also do this exact recipe with regular potatoes and you could add or use any seasonings you want. With regular potatoes we throw in some garlic powder too. It's a fairly healthy way to have your french fry fix. :)

Baked Apples

,

Zac and I are trying to limit our desserts to once a week. But I have such a sweet tooth I have likes coming up with healthy fruit treats that replace dessert. One of my favorites is bakes apples. Here is the loose recipe. It can be modified to taste.

Baked Apples

Ingredients:

2 apples ( I prefer Gala)

4 tbsps lemon juice

2 tsps cinnamon

3 tbsps splenda/sugar/brown sugar or any other sweetener you prefer

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and cut apples into slices. Place in a glass 9x9 cooking pan. Pour lemon juice over apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and sweetener or sugar on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until apples are soft. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.

Notes:

I like to serve with frozen Sugar Free Cool Whip when we are staying light or vanilla ice cream when we splurge. Really yummy and still healthy. You can really change the amount of any of the ingredients to fit your taste. Also, adding walnuts, pecans, rasins, or crasins is yummy.