Among the most popular menu items at the neo-Mexican restaurants Café Rio and Costa Vida, is their sweet pork salad with their “to-die-for” Cilantro Ranch Dressing. Making this salad requires some preparation, but you won’t believe how amazingly similar this recipe is to the original.
First, you’ll need to prepare your sweet pork ahead of time. It takes about six to eight hours, but it makes about three pounds, and it can be frozen and reheated as needed.
You’ll also need to prepare the tortilla strip crunchies, (approximately 6 corn tortillas sliced ¼ inch thick, and deep fried until golden brown.) If you have any left over, these make great snacks too.
The most important task to make ahead of time is the famous Ranch Cilantro Dressing. It’s a delicious blend of ranch, cilantro and lime that makes for a tangy and refreshing salad. This dressing doesn’t have too much of a bite, so if you want it a little hotter, you’ll need to adjust the Tabasco and cilantro according to your heat preference.
Costa Vida Sweet Pork Salad
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Medium
Prep time: 30 minutes (excluding Sweet Pork)
- 1 head of Romano lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces.
- 1 can Bush’s ® Black or Pinto beans
- 3 Cups of Sweet Pork (see recipe here)
- Cilantro Ranch Dressing (see recipe below)
- 6 flour Tortillas
- Pico de gallo (see recipe below)
- Tortilla strip crunchies
Place a warm tortilla in a bowl or on a plate. Place approximately 1/3 cup of warmed sweet pork and 1/3 cup of warmed Bush’s beans on the tortilla. Place lettuce over the meat and beans. Sprinkle ¼ cup of pico de gallo over the salad as desired. Drizzle with cilantro ranch dressing and top with a healthy amount of tortilla strip crunchies. Serve and enjoy.
Cilantro Ranch Dressing
- 1 package of Hidden Valley ® buttermilk ranch dressing. (prepare according to directions)
- 2 tomatillos (they look like green tomatoes, but they are NOT! You may substitute 3 Tbsp of prepared salsa verde)
- cilantro (1/4 bunch)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1/8 tsp Tabasco
Peel tomatillos and cut into fourths. Clean and rinse cilantro and remove large stems. Pour prepared ranch dressing in a blender, and add cilantro leaves, tomatillos, garlic, lime juice and Tobasco. Blend until cilantro is finely chopped. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until dressing has thickened.
Pico de Gallo
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (remove seeds)
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1 Jalapeno diced (at least a Tablespoon, but more if you prefer)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 limes juiced (about 1/3 Cup of lime juice)
- 1 Tbsp cilantro, plus extra for garnish
- Salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and stir well. Chill.
