Cafe Rio Sweet Pulled Pork Salads

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a picture of a power saw being used on a chunk of meat. Our pork was frozen solid and didn't fit in our crockpot, so Jeremy had the very resourceful idea of using our power saw to slice it in two haha! I was more than a little nervous that he was going to slice through my crock pot, but I needed the pork to fit so I figured, why not? Who needs an electric knife when you've got a power saw??:)

These are so yummy! They do actually taste a lot like Cafe Rio's pulled pork salads, though they're not an exact match. Close enough, though. Ava love the pork. The original recipe called for 5 jalapeno cross sections and I thought the dressing was too spicy so I would only do 2... or none at all. :)

Cafe Rio Sweet Pulled Pork Salads

Sweet Pulled Pork

3 lbs pork tenderloin
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, except for the brown sugar and enchilada sauce, and cook on low for 7 hours. Strain fat from crock pot and shred the meat. Add brown sugar and enchilada sauce and cook on low for 1 more hour.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 fresh tomatillos, peeled and cut into quarters
juice of ½ a lime
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 ounces cream cheese
1 pkg dry Ranch Buttermilk Dressing mix
½ cup fresh cilantro
5-6 green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic
4 tsp sugar
2 cross section slices of a jalapeno pepper

Combine cilantro, buttermilk, green onions, garlic and tomatillos in a blender and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well mixed.


For Salads:

Layer a tortilla (the cook-at-home kind work best), hot white rice, hot black beans, shredded romaine lettuce, sweet pulled pork, corn chip strips, pico de gallo (or just chopped fresh tomato) and top with Creamy Tomatillo Dressing.

Banana Pecan Oatmeal Brulee

Roasting the bananas in this recipe really brings out a yummy flavor!

Banana Pecan Oatmeal Brûlée
1.5 cups water
1 cup oats
pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 large bananas, sliced
2 – 3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

1. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in oats and salt, if using, and immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until oats are desired texture.
2. Remove oatmeal from heat and stir in milk and butter.  Pour oatmeal into a small casserole dish (about 1 1/2 quarts) and arrange banana slices over the top.  Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the top of the bananas.  Put casserole under a preheated broiler until sugar starts to melt (watch carefully, it happens pretty fast). Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped pecans.*  Serve warm.
Serves 4.

Creamy Spring Peas

This was a really yummy veggie recipe - and a nice change. It uses three kinds of peas in different shapes and sizes which gives it a nice appearance and texture. The original recipe calls for pancetta but that's a little pricey for me so I used bacon so that's how I'll write it up. You can use 4oz pancetta in place of the bacon if you'd like.

Creamy Spring Peas

Salt

2 C shelled fresh English peas or thawed frozen peas (about 10 oz)

1 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into 1/2" pieces

1/4 lb snow peas, trimmed and thinly sliced

4-5 slices bacon

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 C chicken broth

1/2 C heavy cream

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Fill a large bowl with ice water; set aside. If using English peas, add to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 1 minute. (If using frozen peas just run them under water to make sure they are fully thawed and set them aside.) Add the snap peas and cook until bright green, about 2 minutes, then add the snow peas and cook 30 seconds. Drain the peas and plunge into the ice water to cool.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Discard all but about 1 Tbsp of the drippings; add the flour to reserved drippings, whisking until toasted, about 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken broth and cream and cook until reduced by one-third, about 6 minutes.

Drain the peas (including the frozen peas), shaking off the excess water, then add to the skillet. Cook, stirring until the sauce is slightly thickened and the peas are heated through, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the bacon. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy.

Altered slightly from a Food Network recipe.

Orange Glazed Rolls

These were a fun treat for Easter dinner and quite yummy. The recipe said it makes 12 bunnies so I doubled it and had lots of bunnies left over because they're really big! And, of course, you can shape these any way you want.

Orange Glazed Rolls

2 Tbsp active dry yeast

1/4 C warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 C warm milk (110-115 degrees)

1/2 C shortening

2 eggs

1/3 C sugar

1/4 C orange juice

2 Tbsp grated orange peel

1 tsp salt

5 - 5 1/2 C all-purpose flour

Glaze:

2 C powdered sugar

1/4 C orange juice

1/2 tsp soft butter

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, eggs, sugar, orange juice, orange peel, salt, and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape rolls as desired. For bunnies, divide dough into 13 pieces. Shape 12 of them into 12-inch ropes. Fold each in half; twist top half to form ears. Shape remaining dough into 12 balls. Place one on the loop end of each roll to form a tail; press into dough. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. (Bake for 10-12 minutes on a dark cookie sheet.) Cool on wire racks. In a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients; beat until blended. Spread over rolls.

Altered slightly from a Taste of Home recipe.

Roasted New Potatoes

I decided to try this new recipe to take to a dinner with friends (this was breaking one of my hard and fast rules to Never Take A New Recipe To An Occasion - and this is why.) The directions said to chop the bacon and put it in the pan with the potatoes. After the 45 minutes cooking time it was still RAW! Disgusting. I had to pick it all out and cook it after the potatoes were finished. After I cooked the bacon we were late to the dinner but everyone liked the potatoes! Of course I didn't tell them about the bacon disaster - well, I did tell one friend because I knew she would laugh, and she did.

2 lbs. new potatoes, halved lengthwise (or regular potatoes cut in 1 inch cubes)
6 slices bacon
3 Tbsp. Italian dressing
1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise (or regular fat, whatever you have is fine)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2-4 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine potatoes and Italian dressing; spread onto bottom of 15x10 baking pan. Bake 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and crisp around the edges, stirring after 25 minutes.

While the potatoes cook, mix mayo, lemon juice and garlic.

Cook the bacon until crisp, drain and crumble, set aside.

Spoon potatoes into large bowl, stir in mayo mixture and crumbled bacon. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Fried Ice Cream

Fried Ice Cream

Note: Do not attempt frying on a gas stove…

½ gallon French Vanilla ice cream

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

3c. corn flakes, coarsely crushed

Vegetable oil

Honey

Whipped cream

Shape ice cream into 8 balls. Sprinkle each with cinnamon and roll in corn flakes. Place on cookie sheet and freeze until very hard. Chill serving bowls. Heat enough oil in deep fat fryer to cover ice cream balls. Heat to 375° and fry each ball, one at a time, for 3-5 seconds. Serve immediately with honey, whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Salmon with Pecan-Honey Sauce

I'm cleaning out old issues of Simple & Delicious again so I'm retrying recipes I marked as good.  This one is really tasty.  I recommend toasting the pecans and then chopping, otherwise you get little bitty crumb pieces that just burn when you toast them. 
You  may want to use less oil and butter to cook the salmon.  I already cut the amount in half here and it still seems like more than you need, depending on how big the fillets are and how many you use, of course.

 

Salmon with Pecan-Honey Sauce
6 salmon fillets (6 oz each)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 T. vegetable oil
3 T. butter

Sauce:
6 T. butter
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 c. honey

Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, cook salmon in oil and butter for 10-12 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, cook sauce ingredients over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes or until bubbly.  Serve with salmon.  Yield: 6 servings.

Slightly altered from Simple & Delicious, photo from the magazine too.

Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

We made this yummy asparagus for dinner tonight. We were cooking chicken at a lower temperature so rather than roasting it in the oven we used the electric skillet at 400 degrees and that worked beautifully.

Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

1 1/2 lb fresh asparagus

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp crushed rosemary

2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat oven from 425 degrees. Spray 15x10 pan with cooking spray. Wash asparagus, break (or cut) off tough ends. In a long, shallow bowl mix remaining ingredients except cheese; toss with asparagus to coat. Spread out in pan.

Roast 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; toss to mix in. Return to oven and roast 5-8 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender.

Mmm, mmm!

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

This is a yummy twist on mac and cheese...

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

7 tablespoons butter
1 pound (16 oz) elbow macaroni
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cups shredded chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup Buffalo wing sauce
2 tablespoons  flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk
1 pound (16 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and garlic and cook 2 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup hot sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 more minute.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a separate saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and mustard until smooth. Whisk in the half-and-half and add the remaining 1/4 cup hot sauce and stir until thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.

Combine the chicken mixture, cooked pasta, and cheese sauce and toss to combine.

recipe from goodlifeeats.com

**The original recipe called for celery and Jeremy and I both agreed that it wouldn've been better to leave the celery out and, instead, serve it on the side with ranch.

Fluffy Banana Oat Pancakes

I love these pancakes... they taste good and they are good for you! That is, until you load them up with syrup. But, hey, you can't win em all, right?:)

Fluffy Banana Oat Pancakes

makes about 20 pancakes

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups low-fat milk
1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
3 tablespoons melted butter or canola oil
1/3 cup honey
1 1/3 cup puréed ripe bananas, about 4 medium bananas
2 eggs, lightly beaten


1. Place a large skillet or griddle on the stove (you can also use an electric skillet) and preheat over low heat while you make the batter.

2. Add the oats to a food processor or bullet blender and process until the mixture is very fine (unless you want to leave the oats as is for a chunkier texture). In a medium-large sized bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, ground oats, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the milk, yogurt, butter or canola oil (if using butter, allow it to cool to room temp first), honey, banana, and eggs. Hand whisk until thoroughly combined, but do not beat.

4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the liquids into the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. Again, do not beat the mixture. Just stir until moist and combined.

5. Turn the heat on the pan or griddle up to medium-low. Grease with cooking spray, oil, or butter according to your preference. Add the batter 1/4 cup per pancake to the pan. Cook until golden brown on the bottom before flipping.

6. You can usually tell it is ready to flip because the top will start to bubble.

This batter is thick so you'll probably want to spread it a bit once you pour it onto the griddle.

Recipe from goodlifeeats.com

Smothered Chicken

Mom found this recipe and was so excited about the caramelized onions. And then so sad to learn that we didn't have any onions! Naturally this wasn't a problem for me and we made it anyway sans onions and it was delightful. I put the onions as an optional topping at the end of the recipe if you like them.

Smothered Chicken Breasts

8 bacon strips

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 C shredded Colby-Jack cheese

Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp; remove from pan. Pour off all but about 1 Tbsp of the bacon drippings. Combine salt and lemon-pepper then sprinkle over both sides of chicken breasts. Cook chicken in bacon drippings until cooked through, about 6-7 minutes on each side. Top each breast with 2 slices of bacon and sprinkle with cheese. Cover pan with a lid and cook until cheese is melted.

Optional Topping:

1 medium onion, sliced

1/4 C packed brown sugar

After the chicken is cooked through remove from pan and keep warm. Pour 2 Tbsp of the bacon greased back into the skillet. Saute onion and brown sugar until onion is tender and golden brown. Remove from skillet. Place chicken in skillet, top with 2 slices of bacon, onions and cheese. Cover with lid and allow cheese to melt.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These are really tastey and quick. I decided to go easy and just serve these with corn on the side and then refried beans and sour cream for dipping. Delish! And, again, the pepper jack cheese really didn't make these spicy at all.

On another note - we also found out while making these that Ava likes green onions! She grabbed a piece of green onion from the cutting board and I waited to see the funny look on her face when she tried it, but the funny look never came. She just went back for more! I think should would have eaten the entire thing if I would've let her, and she even grabbed the really oniony-tasting white end and was chewing on it. Who knew??

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1-2 sliced green onions
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 cup grated pepperjack cheese
about 12 small flour tortillas
kosher salt
butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder and mix well. Add green onions, chicken and pepperjack cheese and combine well.

Place 3 Tablespoons of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Brush the tops lightly with a small amount of butter and sprinkle a small amount of kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Makes around 10 taquitos

Recipe altered from OurBestBites.com