Serving Up {Salad}: Cilantro Ranch Dresing

I'm wrapping up my week of dreamy Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa in celebration of my being in Utah and, hopefully, enjoying Cafe Rio in person.

Now that you know how to make the pork and the rice, it's time to assemble.  If you are going for the Barbacoa Burrito, fill your tortilla (use the ones you have to cook from Costco, please!) with a scoop of the Cilantro Lime Rice, a scoop of black beans, a scoop of the sweet pork and some Monterey Jack cheese.  If you are going totally authentic then at this point you would wrap it up, smother it in salsa verde and top it with more cheese and place it in the oven until the cheese is melted.  Then serve the burrito with a side of sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo.  So good!

Their salad's are layered similarly with a tortilla base, cheese, rice, black beans, pork and romaine lettuce topped with (more) cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole.  Then serve the salad with this Cilantro Ranch Dressing.

I have taken the liberty of messing with perfection and because I love this dressing SO much, I use it inside of my burritos when I make them.  It adds such a delicious flavor that I frequently wrap by burrito as pictured above and skip the smothering of it with salsa verde - which is saying something because I really like salsa verde!  Sometimes it just seems like a lighter meal when I don't have the sauce and additional cheese.   

I said "lighter", which no matter how you define it does NOT mean less delicious!

CILANTRO RANCH DRESSING     
(recipe from Favorite Family Recipes)
printable version

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, quarter
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalepeno (keep the seeds for spicy, remove the seeds for mild)

Mix all the ingredients together in a blender and pulse until smooth.  Chill at least one hour prior to serving.

Serving Up {Side Dish}: Cilantro Lime Rice

I am in Utah this week and by now ought to have satisfied my craving for Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa burrito - a real Utah favorite.  I posted the pork recipe yesterday and today we are moving on to the rice.

Whether you take your Pork Barbacoa burrito style (like me) or salad style (like my mom) you will want some of this delicious Cilantro Lime Rice.  It's become a staple whenever I make burritos - regardless of whether I'm going for the Cafe Rio copycat or simply using one of my other chicken or beef recipes.  It's just a great flavor combination and can even be served as a side dish.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE     
printable version

3 cups cooked rice, white or brown ***
1 Tbs. lime zest, minced
3 Tbs. fresh lime juice
3 Tbs. finely minced fresh cilantro

Cook rice according to directions package directions.
*** replace water (all or part) with chicken broth when making rice for a more flavorful end product

Immediately toss lime zest, lime juice and cilantro with the cooked rice. 

Can be servee warm or cold.

Delicious served in burritos with shredded meat and black beans.

Serving Up {Pork}: Shredded Sweet Pork

This week I am on vacation to visit my family in Utah.  You can bet large sums of money that at some point while there I will be eating a gigantic Pork Barbacoa burrito from Cafe Rio and will finish the entire thing in one sitting.  Because it's just that good!

Now I know that I am not the only person completely obsessed with Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa because there are a TON of copycat recipes out there in the blogosphere.  Most of the recipes for the pork involve cooking the pork in soda.  I'm not a big soda fan (okay, I am totally and completely against it) and so I was happy to find this copycat recipe that didn't call for the can of soda.  The result was still sweet and delicious pork which is the most important ingredient when making a Cafe Rio Sweet Pork salad or burrito.  Stay tuned over the course of the week for the rice and dressing recipes.  By this weekend, you too will be enjoying deliciousness to blow your mind!

SHREDDED SWEET PORK    

(recipe from The Sister's Cafe)

printable version

3 lb pork roast
1 c brown sugar
1 c Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tb dried minced onions

Cook all ingredients in a crock pot on low all day (aboutt 8 hours).
One hour before serving, remove roast and shred it. Dump out all cooking juices and place shredded pork back into crockpot and add…

1 c brown sugar
1 c red enchilada sauce

Turn off the crock pot and replace the crock pot lid until ready to serve.

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Egg Pie (German Pancakes)

I'm sure that everyone has their own recipe for German Pancakes - they are pretty basic.  At our house they are called "Egg Pie" because back when I only had two kiddos making an entire 9x13 pan was too much for them to eat so I would make 1/2 batch and would bake it in a glass pie dish.  Even though we have graduated to needing the entire recipe with the size of our gang now, the name has stuck!

If you have never eaten German Pancakes with buttermilk syrup - I am telling you that you must try it at least once in your lifetime.  In truth, we make egg pie probably weekly but the syrup only makes an appearance on a rare and special occasion - but it's a good recipe to have nonetheless :)

EGG PIE (GERMAN PANCAKES)     

printable version

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place butter in a glass 13x9 pan and melt the butter by placing the pan in the oven while it heats.  Remove pan once the butter is melted and coat the pan with the butter by rotating the pan until the entire bottom is coated.

Place eggs, milk, flour and salt in the blender and process until smooth.  Pour the egg batter into the prepared pan and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and dust with powdered sugar or serve with Buttermilk Syrup.

Buttermilk Syrup:

1 1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

2 Tbs. corn syrup

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine the first five ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil.  Boil for 7 minutes, being careful to not let it boil over.  Remove from the heat; stir in the vanilla.

Serving Up {Pasta}: Creamy Lemon Pasta

The first thing that you might notice when you read the recipe for this dish is that it calls for thin spaghetti and yet, the photos are definitely not of spaghetti.  While the recipe calls for thin spaghetti (and I have always made it with thin spaghetti), the night I made this recipe I had children requesting a different shaped pasta.  While my kids may think that the shape of the pasta matters, I realize that it generally does not and I can report that this recipe turns out just fine using a shape other than thin spaghetti.  Oh, and I also added some cooked chicken.  So basically I took a photo that will look very different from what you will end up with were you to follow the recipe as written :)

I LOVE the light lemon flavor and would definitely encourage the use of real lemons versus bottled lemon juice.  There was something about squeezing a fresh lemon over the dish as it came out of the oven that just set my spirits high.  One bite and my spirits went soaring!

BAKED LEMON PASTA    
(recipe from The Sister's Cafe)
printable version

1 pound Thin Spaghetti
4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole Lemon, Juiced And Zested
2 cups Sour Cream
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt, Or More To Taste
Plenty Of Grated Parmesan Cheese
Flat-leaf Parsley, Chopped
Extra Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.) When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end or feel free to add as much as you like.

Serving Up {Cake}: Frosted Banana Bars

Last week I declared my love of all things banana with a recipe for Coconut Banana Muffins.  In staying true to the promise of never ending banana recipes I am sharing this yummy recipe for Frosted Banana Bars - delicious!

Last weekend we hosted a BBQ at our home for a group of adults from church and we had about 50 people in attendance.  Everybody was supposed to bring either a salad or a dessert and I was told that I didn't need to provide either since I was providing the home.  But my husband was aware of one attendee that was celebrating his birthday that night and asked that I make a "cake".  I knew exactly what cake I was going to make until the day of the BBQ when my husband informed me that the cake couldn't be chocolate.  While this recipe isn't truly a "cake", it became my back up (non-chocolate) plan.  I'm so glad that it did.  I love this recipe and only wish I had more reason to host large crowds so that I could make all of my favorite desserts, eat my one deliciously large piece and then be ensured that the rest would be eaten by others and not remain in my own fridge for me to feel obligated to eat!

FROSTED BANANA BARS     
printable version

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed banana (approx 3)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 10x15 jelly roll pan. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time and then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and add to the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another bowl beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Frost cooled bars and enjoy!

Serving Up {Salad}: Oriental Chicken Salad

This recipe might qualify as my most requested recipe that I make - but considering it's been requested by the same friend over and over and over again, it might not actually count.  Finally this particular friend told me that if I would simply put this recipe on my blog, she would always have access to it and the requests would end.  I don't mind the requests, but here you go.  By popular request!

This is a great summertime recipe.  It's light and refreshing and, because it tastes best if it's made in advanced, you do all the work beforehand so when dinner rolls around you simply pull it out of the fridge and call out "dinner is served".  Love that!

ORIENTAL CHICKEN SALAD     
(recipe from aunt Holly)
printable version

2 pkgs. chicken ramen noodles, broken into little pieces
4 C. finely chopped cabbage - I use bagged coleslaw mix
4-6 green onions, sliced
2-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/4 C. slivered almonds, toasted
2 Tbs. sesame seeds, toasted

In a large bowl, combine all the above ingredients.

Dressing:
3/4 C. salad oil
2 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 Tbs. vinegar
1/2 tsp. worcestershire
1-2 pkgs. chicken ramen noodle seasoning packet

Mix all dressing ingredients, blending well, and pour over salad. Chill (preferably overnight) and serve.

Serving Up {Dessert}: Raspberry Rice Pudding

Rice pudding may not be everyone's cup of tea.  I don't know that it was even mine until six years ago when my best friend and I went to NYC to celebrate our (milestone) birthdays that year.  While we were scouring the town for good deals and good eats, we stopped in one afternoon for a treat at Rice to Riches - a Rice Pudding "parlor" near the downtown shopping.   Be still my heart!  It was like an ice cream parlor with a dozen or more different flavors of rice pudding to choose from.  And then there were the toppings!  Everything from granola to crushed candy to fresh fruit.  I was hooked.  Since then, I happily order Rice Pudding whenever it's available and relish in it's delightful goodness!

Although I haven't had a chance to master a dozen different flavors (a goal I will someday accomplish), I did stumble across this recipe for Raspberry Rice Pudding on a local television morning show a few years back.  It keeps my cravings for rice pudding in check and the raspberry/almond combination wows when I take it to a summer picnic potluck.

Be warned... as written, this recipe makes a LOT!  You either need to be feeding a large group or you need to REALLY like rice pudding :)

RASPBERRY RICE PUDDING     
printable version

8 cups half & half
4 cups cooked medium grain rice
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Pour 7 cups of half & half, as well as cooked rice, sugar and salt into a 4-quart stock pot. Stir at medium heat with a wooden spoon constantly until the mixture thickens (it should take about 45-55 minutes). After the mixture has thickened, remove from the heat.
In a separate bowl, add 2 eggs that have been whipped and acclimated to room temperature. Slowly add one tablespoon at a time of the thickened pudding to the eggs while whisking to bring the eggs to the pudding temperature. Then add eggs to the pudding and fully incorporate.
Add the final cup of half & half, the vanilla and raspberries to the mixture.
Transfer the pudding to a large bowl. Cover pudding immediately with plastic wrap to prevent a skin and serve warm or cold.

Serving Up {Sandwich}: Cashew Chicken Salad

There is something about Chicken Salad served on a croissant that just declares "baby shower" or "church luncheon" - or at least that is what I relate them to in my own life.  But church luncheons are too infrequent and I think I may have outgrown my years of being a frequent guest at baby showers.  Desperate times call for desperate measures - time to make my own chicken salad and eat it in the privacy of my own home for my own lunch with only the company of my own children.  And I'm okay with that!

This recipe is SO simple.  That is how I like my chicken salad - simple.  I like the pop of the grapes as I bite into them, I like the crunch of the cashews and I prefer to leave the celery out (but you can add it if you are so inclined).  The thing about chicken salad is that it's one of those "mix the ingredients, taste it, add more of something, taste it again."  The recipe is simply a starting point.  But a pretty good place to start in my opinion :)  I hope you agree.

CASHEW CHICKEN SALAD     

printable version

4 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
2 cups cashews, to taste
2 cups halved red seedless grapes, to taste
1 cup celery, chopped (optional)
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
Real Foods Mayonnaise
1/2 fresh lemon **(see my tip)

Cook chicken breasts through and either cube them or shred them.
** I like to cook the chicken in a slow cooker and shred it.  I squeeze 1/2 fresh lemon over the chicken as I shred it and it adds a "bright" flavor to the chicken salad.
Combine chicken, grapes, celery, onion, pepper and salt in a large bowl.  Begin with 2 cups of mayonnaise and continue to add more mayonnaise until the chicken salad is as moist (or dry) as you prefer.
Add the cashews to the mix just prior to serving.
Serve on buns or croissants.  Garnish with lettuce, tomatoes or red onion, as desired.

Serving Up {Muffins}: Coconut Banana Muffins

I really ought to dedicate a weeks worth of posts just to bananas!  I love banana bread, banana cookies, banana cake, banana bars, banana pancakes, banana muffins and even banana pudding.  Trust me, I have recipes for them all and never tire of any of them.  Stay tuned for more banana recipes to come (hopefully) soon!

In the meantime, this recipe for Coconut Banana Muffins will have to hold you over.  It's a recipe from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) who may just be my very favorite Food Network cook ever - though I hope I don't ever have to actually pick just one.  Her original recipe was for a Banana Crunch muffin and called for nuts and granola.  My adaption of her recipe basically dropped the "crunch" (for the sake of the kids!) and I replaced the butter with coconut oil.  We enjoy muffins each Sunday morning at our house and I frequently add coconut oil and raw coconut to our muffins to boost their nutrition.  This recipe just conveniently started with those ingredients.  These muffins are divine - super moist and the perfect balance of banana to coconut.  A bit of the tropics with each bite!

COCONUT BANANA MUFFINS     

(recipe adapted from The Barefoot Contessa)

printable version

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup coconut oil
2  eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.
Fold the diced bananas and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.