So anyone who lives in or knows anyone who lives in Utah has probably eaten at Cafe Rio or Costa Vida about a million times. And you definitely know what I’m talking about with the long lines!…and the screaming kids all around you (half the time your own)…and the fact that it’s almost impossible to find a table! And if you’re brown like me, the fact that the workers there INSIST in speaking Spanish to you every time you go there and making you feel like an idiot when you have no clue what they’re talking about, but it’s not your fault you’re half black and you look Hispanic. But maybe I’m the only one with that issue.

Anyway, now you can have Cafe Rio without dealing with all of that! My cousin gave me this recipe a few years ago, and anytime I make it for company they have all told me that they actually prefer it over the original (mostly cause it tastes more fresh)! So, if you’re a fan of the very popular (almost famous?) and oh-so-delcious Cafe Rio pork salads, you’re gonna be a fan of this recipe! And if you haven’t heard of Cafe Rio, you’re totally missing out, and please remind me to take you there the next time you come to visit me. But still try this recipe anyway, it’ll be one of your new favorites I’m sure!

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

• Pork (see below)
• pico de gallo (see below)
• green chili rice (see below)
• dressing (see below)
• fresh tortillas (see below)*
• black beans
• shredded cheese
• romaine lettuce, chopped
• tortillas (optional)

• Pork:
• 1 pork shoulder (no bone preferably)
• 2 liter bottle of Coke
• bottle of barbecue sauce

1. Put pork, barbecue sauce, & coke in a crockpot on low overnight.
2. About an hour before serving, shred the pork & return to crockpot

• Pico de Gallo: (this is a really fresh salsa)
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 c. cilantro leaves, chopped (or more to taste!)
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• salt

1. Combine all ingredients; cover & refrigerate for at least an hour.

• Rice:
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 can green chilies
• 1/2 onion
• 3 c. water (or more if needed)
• 4 tsp chicken bouillon
• 4 tsp garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3 c. rice (uncooked)

1. Blend cilantro, green chilies & onion together in food processor/blender.
2. Boil water; add all ingredients.
3. Simmer covered 20-30 minutes or until rice is cooked…just watch near the end and add more water if it’s starting to look dry.

• Dressing:
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. mayonnaise
• 1 pkg Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (the dry packet)
• 2 tomatillos*
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/3 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 1 small jalapeno pepper

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender.

• Fresh tortillas:*

1. These are pretty easy to make, just follow the package instructions. All you do is cook these in a large pan sprayed with pam on medium-high heat for a couple minutes on each side until golden brown.
2. (Just slap down the bubbles when they form with a spatula, this will help them cook more evenly).

1. Process:
2. The night before, start cooking the pork.
3. About an hour before eating, make pico de gallo & put in fridge.
4. Make rice.
5. Meanwhile, make dressing. Put in fridge till ready to use.
6. Right before eating, cook tortillas.
7. To Serve:
8. Put a cooked tortilla on a plate.
9. Top with romaine lettuce, then rice, then pork, then cheese, beans, pico de gallo, & tortillas chips.
10. Top everything with the dressing.
11. ENJOY!

**Recomendations:

• Tomatillos: In case you don’t know what these are (I didn’t before I started making this!), they are those things that look like little green tomatoes with a thin paperlike skin on them. you can find these at any grocery store by the “ethnic” ingredients: jalapenos, etc. You just peel them, rinse them off, and cut them just like normal tomatoes. Don’t substitute tomatoes for these, they have a completely different taste! But don’t be scared of them, I promise they’re not as weird as they look!
• Fresh Tortillas: Just make sure you get the fresh tortillas, not the already cooked ones that you probably normally buy. You can find the fresh tortillas in most grocery stores, kind of in the same area as the fresh pasta or shredded cheese.

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You might be surprised to see a turkey recipe in June instead of November like usual, but my brother and sister-in-law recently moved out of state, and they gave me some leftover turkey meat that they had in their freezer. I’m sure you can use turkey as a substitute in any chicken recipe, but I decided to look up a recipe for turkey soup on my favorite recipe site, tried it, and really liked it! Here you go:

Turkey Soup with Egg Noodles & Vegetables (#144905 on recipezaar…& I guess it was originally from Quick Fix Meals on the Food Network):

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 leeks, cleaned & chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled & chopped/sliced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3-4 c. cooked turkey, shredded
• 2-3 bay leaf
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 8 c. reduced sodium chicken broth
• 6 oz. egg noodles, uncooked*
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat oil in a large stock pt or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add leeks, carrots, celery & garlic; saute 4 minutes, or until soft.
3. Add turkey, bay leaves, thyme, salt & pepper; stir to mix well.
4. Add chicken broth; bring mixture to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low; partially cover & simmer 10 minutes.
6. Return mixture to a boil & add egg noodles.
7. Cook 10 minutes, until egg noodles are just tender.
8. Stir in peas & cook until peas are just heated through, about 1 minute.
9. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves & stir in parsley.
10. (serves 4-6)

Recommendations:

• Noodles:  This tasted great with the egg noodles, but I think the only way to make this recipe taste even better would be to do this with homemade noodles!  I hear they’re not too hard to make, and I have a recipe from a friend, so next time I make this I’ll try to do the homemade noodles & let you know how it goes!

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So normally when I need cooked cut up chicken for recipes I either use my quick cooking method or rotisserie chicken. I was watching Barefoot Contessa a while ago, and she insisted that her method was the only true way to make cooked chicken for recipes (she was making chicken salad that day). She said that it was the way she found that guaranteed the chicken ended up moist and flavorful. So, the other day I decided to put this theory to the test! I was making my family’s delicious recipe for chicken salad sandwiches, and instead of using my typical chicken (I usually use the quick cooking method for this one, don’t want the added flavor from the rotisserie chicken to mess up the other flavors!), I decided to try this method. And, lo and behold, what resulted was moist flavorful chicken just as promised! It was delicious in my chicken salad, it really did add just a bit more flavor, which is always a plus! The only downside is that it did take longer than my typical quick cooking method. Which, since I was making a big Sunday dinner (for my mother-in-law, she LOVES my chicken salad sandwiches!), it was worth the little bit of extra time! So, final decision on this one: if I’m making a recipe that I want to be extra special and I have some extra time, this method is for sure the one I’ll use. If I’m making a quicker weeknight meal, back to my quick-cooking chicken method! Anyway, here’s the “recipe” for you:

Barefoot Contessa’s Cooked Chicken for Recipes

• 2 chicken breasts, bone-in and skin on*
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste*

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Place chicken breasts on baking sheet with sides (to catch the grease), skin side up.
3. Rub olive oil on breasts, sprinkle with salt & pepper.
4. Bake for 45 minutes.
5. Cool, then chop or slice to use in your recipes.

Recommendations:

• Seasonings: The recipe only calls for salt & pepper, but pretty much any time I’m cooking any type of meat I always season it with salt, pepper, AND garlic powder first, so that’s what I used.
• Chicken: I did this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, just because that’s what I always have on hand, and it still turned out great. But, the boneless skinless cooks faster (and dries out faster!), so it only took about 25-30 minutes to cook. Just make sure you watch the chicken carefully and check it often near the end! (for a quick way to tell if your chicken is done, try this trick)

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So I just got done telling the story of how, whenever I would go with my friend Lynzi to her family’s house her mom would make us our two favorite things: chicken tacos and frog-eye salad. We insisted that she make us those two things every single time we went out there. Whenever Lynzi would go to visit them alone, we would all make her bring home a big batch of her mom’s frog-eye salad home to us!

Now, her mom’s frog-eye salad is famous in my family too! I bring it to almost every family function and my family just can’t get enough…and the kids love it because they can talk their parents into considering something sweet a salad instead of a dessert (not to mention the name…they love the thought of eating “frog’s eyes”)! My sister-in-law and one of my cousins give me a huge hug every time I make this, and you should see their plates…tiny piece of chicken, a couple chips, and a HUGE serving of frog-eye! It makes me laugh every time. Also, I keep trying to make larger and larger batches of this, hoping that I can actually bring some home to eat the next day…hasn’t worked yet. I’m not gonna lie, it takes just a little while to make (and some planning, because you want to let it sit overnight), but it is SOOOOOOO worth it! (and you all know that I’m not a huge fan of anything that takes a long time to make, so if I say it’s worth it, I promise it’s worth it!).

Barcy’s Frog-Eye Salad

• 3 qts water
• 1 pkg (16 oz.) adini de pepe
• 1 c sugar
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 c pineapple juice
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cans (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained well
• 2 cans (20 oz) pineapple tidbits, drained well
• 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (9 oz) whipped topping (cool whip)
• 1 c. mini marshmallows

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add acini de pepe. Cook at rolling boil for 11 minutes. Drain & rinse with cold water. Drain again; cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, combine sugar, flour, & salt. Gradually stir in pineapple juice & eggs. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened (let it reach a boil). Add lemon juice. Cool mixture to room temperature.
4. Pour mixture over acini de pepe; mix lightly but thoroughly.
5. Refrigerate overnight (at least 3 hours) in air tight container.
6. Add remaining ingredients & mix. Refrigerate until serving.

Notes:

• Acini de pepe:  In case you don’t know what acini de pepe is, it’s the tiny ball shaped pasta.  Even though they’re pasta, they taste GREAT in this sweet salad!  Here is a picture of acini de pepe in case you haven’t seen it before:

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Just look at this picture and tell me if you have the same reaction:

I randomly came across this post on this blog today, and when I saw the pic I thought: Did someone actually MAKE that?? But, as I read the ingredients (cake mixes!!) and the instructions, it actually doesn’t seem nearly as difficult as I had anticipated! I mean it’s definitely not something I would make everyday, but for special occassions where I want to impress and be praised on my culinary mastermindedness…SURE! So, click here to check out her post and here is the recipe:

Checkerboard Cake

• your favorite white cake mix
• your favorite chocolate cake mix
• eggs (whatever your cake mixes call for)
• water (whatever your cake mixes call for)
• vegetable oil (whatever your cake mixes call for)
• 2-3 cans white icing/frosting
• 1 pkg Hershey Kisses
• shredded coconut, optional
• 3 (9-inch) cake pans
• 2 large plastic freezer bags

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Oil and flour your cake pans well.
3. Prepare your cake mixes according to package directions.
4. Pour white cake mix into large freezer bag, and seal.
5. Repeat with chocolate cake mix.
6. Make a small cut in one corner of each plastic bag. Pretend your cake pan is a bullseye and make a ring around the outside with the chocolate, followed by a smaller ring of the white cake mix, and finally a large dollop in the center.
7. Repeat, starting with the white cake mix in the second pan.
8. Repeat again on the third pan, again starting with the chocolate cake mix.
9. Bake for 26-32 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the cake pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To build:

1. Layer cakes on a cake pedistal, making sure that the layers are interchangeable. Spead a thin layer of white icing between each later.
2. Frost the entire cake.
3. Press shredded coconut into sided of cake. Top cake with Hershey kisses…she also dusted the top with cocoa powder (see her post for a picture of the finished cake).

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