October 24, 2008

Cafe Rio- Healthified!

This recipe is for the Cafe Rio salad or Burrito, even though it looks like a lot of work it isn't too bad and you end up with a ton of leftovers- so it's worth trying.

Salad:
Warm whole grain tortillas (just buy these, it took me a lot of practice to make them well)
Sweet Lime Cilantro Rice
Black Beans
1 head romaine lettuce or salad greens, shredded

Toppings:
Diced Tomatoes
Guacamole
Tortilla Strips
Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

THE RECIPE
Sweet Lime Cilantro Rice
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups brown rice
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tb. each of lime juice, Vegenaise and honey
1 Tb. Cilantro

Stir ingredients in rice cooker, press on. Or cook on stove for 45 minutes or until tender.

Black Beans
2 cups dry black beans
5 cups water
1/2 Tb salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 onion diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tb Cumin

Pre- soak black beans according to package, then rinse them, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 3-4 hours until tender.

Black Beans (QUICK)
2 cans black beans, drained
1 cup tomato salsa or stewed tomatoes
1 Tb Cumin

Warm and serve.

Guacamole (our favorite way)
1-2 ripe avocados, mashed
salt, pepper to taste
1-2 Tb. lemon juice or lime juice

Mix and enjoy.

Tortilla Strips
Slice corn tortillas in 1/3" strips and cut in half lengthwise. Spread thinly on cookie sheet and toast in 350 degree oven 10-12 minutes. Serve (they keep well in Ziploc for a few weeks)

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
If you really like this dressing, make the whole batch and use it on other salads and in Shrimp Tacos.
1 cup ranch dressing (3 cups Vegenaise, 1 lemon squeezed, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tb parsley)
1 (12 ounce) can Tomatillos drained, then pureed (found with Mexican food, look like green tomatoes)
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne or hot pepper sauce

Measure ingredients into a large liquid measuring cup. Blend with hand blender and enjoy.
I use this dressing for a lot of things as well as the extra Ranch, so it's worth making the 3 cups of Ranch first.

Vegenaise- this is also referred to as healthy mayo, it looks and tastes a lot like mayo, but way healthier. It is found in the health food section in the cooler, by like the Tofu and soy cheeses and comes in a jar. The jars are great for storing the extra dressing in.



2 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Looks great! Any ideas on the shredded pork? Mmmm.

Courtney said...

I know I have the shredded pork recipe somewhere- I will look for it and post soon.