Bajio and Cafe Rio Recipes

The other day I went to Bajio's for the first time.  I got the Ensalada Bajio Salad with their Grilled Mesquite Lime Chicken.  It was so yummy!  Yesterday I spent almost the whole day online trying to find a copycat recipe for the Lime Chicken.  I didn't come up with anything, so I am going to try to create my own.  But here is what I did find.  I found the Cafe Rio Pork here, the Cafe Rio Salad Dressing here  and the Awesome Bajio Style Chicken here.  They all came from this lady who has alot of other recipes that I may try some day.

Cafe Rio Pork
2-3 pounds pork
Salt & pepper
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups salsa
Season the pork with salt and pepper and place in a crock pot. Pour brown sugar and salsa over the top. Cook on low for 7 hours, or high for 5. Remove pork, trim fat, and shred. Return to crock pot and cook for another 30-60 minutes. Serve with all the fixins for tacos. Yummy!!

Notes:
-The original recipe called for 1-2 pounds of pork, but I had tons of juice leftover, so have added extra meat.

Awesome Bajio Style Chicken

5 chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 4oz can diced green chilies
6oz Sprite (1/2 can)

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to crock pot and cook 1 more hour. Serve with flour tortillas, lettuce, cheese, black beans, and whatever other taco fixin's your family likes.

Notes:
-This chicken is not real spicy, so you could add some extra green chilies if you like your food with a little more kick.
-It has a lot of juice, so serve it with a slotted spoon.


Cafe Rio Salad Dressing

1 cup mayo
1 1/2-2 Tbsp. homemade dressing mix (you could use 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix)
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 of a bunch of cilantro with stems chopped off
1/2 - 1 small jalapeno (if you don’t like it spicy, remove the seeds)
1 tsp lime juice
1-2 tomatillos (remove outer papery skin and cut up)
1 garlic clove

Blend all ingredients in food processor or blender.

Sausage Rigatoni Bake

biggest loser baby!!! this is also a 1 serving recipe, just adjust for your family!

sausage:
3 ounces extra lean ground pork
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. italian seasoning
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
pinch of salt

rigatoni and sauce:
3/4 c. whole wheat rigatoni
2/3 c. thin 1 inch long red or yellow bell pepper stips
1 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1 Tb. no salt added tomato paste
1 Tb. water
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. grated reduced fat parmesan cheese

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

to prepare sausage combine the pork, fennel seeds, parsley, pepper flakes, italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt. with clean hands or a fork mix well.

Place a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat until it is hot enough for a spritz of water to sizzle on it. with an oven mitt, briefly remove the pan from the heat to lightly mist with olive oil spray.

Add the sausage to the pan. Cook until no longer pink. remove from the pan and cover to keep warm.

to prepare the rigatoni and sauce: lightly mist a 2 to 3 cup baking dish with olive oil spray. set aside.

cook the pasta according to package directions. drain and set aside. (they may take longer because they are wheat)

meanwhile return the skillet to the heat, add pepper strips, and cook until tender. add the sausage. add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, oregano, honey, and garlic powder. stir to mix well. Add the pasta. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese. cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 10 min. remove the foil. bake for 5 min. or until heated through and the top is starting to brown. Let stand for 5 min. before serving.

*my picky brother loved this dish, and so did my 1 year old!!