Saturday, February 28, 2009

Costa Vida Sweet Pork Salad


SWEET PORK

2 pounds pork
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce
1 c. brown sugar

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.

Drain marinade and put pork, 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). Remove pork from crock pot and drain
any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can
Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown
sugar. If it looks too thick, add more Coke little
by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook
on lowfor 2 hours.!


CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic,
1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring
to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes,
until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a
small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro.
Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.


BLACK BEANS

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in
olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it.
Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir
until heated through. Just before serving stir in
the cilantro.

CILANTRO RANCH

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix(not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno

Mix all ingredients together in the blender.

First of all, you can buy the aluminum deep-dish pans
(they had these at the grocery store...they look JUST
like the Cafe Rio tins). Lay a tortilla in the bottom
of the pan, sprinkle cheese on it, and put in the oven
at 375 for about 5 min or until the cheese is melted.
Remove from oven, add beans, rice, pork, then lettuce
(leafy green lettuce, NOT ICE-BURG) and a little scoop of
diced tomato and onions (pico de gallo). We made up some
guacamole and put some of that on the salad
(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) We also added a little spoonful of
sour cream. Add some crushed tortilla chips, a shake of
Parmesan cheese,and top with a few cilantro leaves.
Serve with the cilantro ranch dressing.


We had this at a friends house a while ago and it was SO
good. Ever since then I have been cooking it a lot. It
tastes VERY similar to Costa Vida's sweet pork salad.
A MUST try! It takes a little bit of work, but
is SOOOO worth it.

Melanie

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind, but I sent an invite to my regular gmail account. This way I can be an author, but can just do it through my regular blog. I was wondering if maybe more people would post if we sent everyone invites so that way they can just add it to their list of blogs. Make sense? Anyways, just wanted to let you know. You can delete this post because it does NOT belong in a cookbook!

Melanie

Ranchero Mexi-Chicken Crostada

I took some advice from Jolene and checked out Picky Palate. I've tried a few of her recipes, but this one has been my favorite.

Ranchero Mexi-Chicken Crostada

1 roll Pillsbury Pie crust, thawed

1 can chunk chicken (from Costco), or about 1 ½ Cups cooked shredded chicken

1 drained can Mild Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies

½ Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves

1 Teaspoon Ranch dressing seasoning, from packet that makes the dip

1 teaspoon cumin

Pinch of salt and pepper

½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll pie crust and place onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place chicken, tomatoes, cilantro, ranch seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper into a large bowl. With a fork, stir and cut up chicken pieces until well combined. Pour chicken mixture into the center of pie crust and top with cheddar cheese, leaving about 1 ½ inch border around edges. Fold crust up over chicken forming little pleats every 2 inches or so pressing gently. Brush edges with olive oil and sprinkle crust with garlic salt.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown on edges. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into wedges to serve.

4 Servings

TRY IT! You will LOVE it! It is fairly easy to make, but looks fancy, Kenneth was impressed when he saw me putting it together.

Melanie