Cafe Rio Rice/ Sauce/ Pork/ Chicken

These recipes are all Yum YUM YUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Everyone has their favorite Cafe Rio recipes. These are mine:

Cafe Rio Lime Cilantro Rice 

2 cups uncooked rice
4 cups water (mixed with 1-3 tsp chicken bouillion)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp butter

Saute garlic and butter until soft, don't let it burn! Add rice and cook for a minute or two, on medium heat. Add water and bouillion mixture, and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. After it begins to boil rapidly, reduce heat to low and cover with lid. Stir occasionally, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. (I did this recipe in half for the two of us and we had leftovers.

Cilantro-Lime Ranch aka Crack:

I made the first recipe tried it cut in half. Did about
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
A slosh of milk ( about 1TBSP)
2 TBSP mild green enchilada sauce (YES I know weird)
1.5TBSP hidden valley ranch powder
1TBSP lime juice
1 roughly chopped clove garlic
Threw it all in a blender. Placed it in a container and it thickened up in the fridge in a few minutes. In my opinion I think it's the closest recipe to the Cafe Rio dressing and no crazy peppers or anything! Feel free to add more sour cream, cilantro or lime juice to taste.

I need to remember some mustard next time. Totally tasted it in my last cafe rio.

Sweet Pork:

1 pork butt

Salsa

Brown sugar

?a dash of crushed red pepper

Pour ingredients over pork roast and cook on low for 8-10 hours until it easily shreds with a fork.  Add more salsa/ brown sugar to your liking.

Alternative Sweet Pork that I actually liked the flavor of the best. But I am not always willing to use soda in my dinner recipes. But this is the closest recipe I've found to the actual thing; which by the way I found in comments on this recipe that a manager from a Cafe Rio said that Coke is the way to go. But they have a whole crazy process and list of things I'm just not as dedicated to do. I modified this recipe a bit to what I could find for cheap and eyeballed a lot of the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds pork (pork shoulder or butt bone in is fine you just cook it till it's falling off the bone anyway)
• 1 can Coke (NOT diet)
• dash garlic salt
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 can diced green chilies (I did not add these)
• 3/4 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work) {For my recipe I used  a small ?8oz can of ?El Pato (Mexican tomato sauce that has chilies in is).}
• 1/2 c. brown sugar

Instructions

• Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight. {I did not do this. I put the pork in the crock pot and went to the next step.)
• Add 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and shred pork. (We like to shred in our kitchen aid. But not too much otherwise it's like dog food.)
• I like to just add the rest of the sauce and seasonings as I mix the pork. Think it's delicious that way. You could finish it off in the crock pot too and that would be yummy as well. 

Lime Chicken from The "I don't cook" syndrome cookbook (so not really a "cafe rio" recipe, but it was very tasty!)

1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients and let chicken marinade in the fridge for several hours. Cook chicken however you like, grill, stovetop, or oven.