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6.23.2008

Mexican!!!

I LOVE Mexican food. I've also been really bad at posting recipes lately, sorry, but I've been out of town. So, I decided to post two of my favorites. Anyone who is from or has been to Utah, knows about Cafe Rio, right? Well, I love it, so I like to make Cafe Rio salad all the time, here's a recipe for their rice and their creamy tomatillo salad dressing. We even use the dressing as chip dip, we like it so much! I'm also posting a recipe for my favorite chicken marinade. The recipe says to marinade it then grill it, but I don't have a grill, so I just put the marinade and the chicken in my crockpot, cook it all together, then shred it for tostadas. Most of the time, I double the chicken so I can freeze a bag... this is by far my most favorite way to eat chicken and mexican food!!!!!

Chicken Tostadas

MARINADE:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 to 4 limes)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil (plus more for brushing the tortillas)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
TOSTADAS
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 4 ounces each)
8 small corn tortillas (5 to 6 inches in diameter)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack, or more if desired
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
Optional toppings: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, green onions

CAFE RIO DRESSING
2 cups mayonaisse
2 cups sour cream
10 sprigs of cilantro
3 tomatillos (green tomatoes looking things. They have a husk on them, you just peel it off, half the tomato and throw it in the blender)
2 green onions (washed and chopped)
2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno pepper (seeds and all - if you like it spicy. Sometimes I leave this out completely, or I add a can of green chilis)
juice of 1 lime
1 or 2 tsp. of salt (depends on how much salt you like)

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Dressing lasts for 2 weeks in refrigerator.

Cafe Rio Rice:
4 tbls butter
2 1/2 cups rice
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp salt
juice of 4 small limes or 4 tbls lime juice
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin

Put in a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer until rice is done. I had to add a little more water, and at the very end, I take it off the burner and I put the lid on to let it steam a little, that seems to make it just right. We eat this with any mexican food, put it on salad, and eat it with our tostadas.

Buen Provecho!

5 comments:

Shae said...

Hooray Kara! I actually had Cafe Rio in mind when I chose mexican food as the ingredient of the week. I am going to be in Utah on Saturday and I am really looking forward to devouring a salad! Sad to say but when I was single and living in Provo I would eat at Cafe Rio like 3 times a week!

I was also hoping you would post your lime chicken recipe...we eat it at least monthly...it is SOOOO good! I always get way overstuffed when I make the lime chicken because I can't stop eating it. Also, we tried to substitute bottled lime juice for the limes one time and it didn't cut it...use real limes!

Christine Archibald said...

So what is in the salad? How do you make it? I have been to Cafe Rio but a long time ago. I am feeling old thinking about it! I graduated from BYU 6 years ago this spring and I haven't been back to Provo since! This all sounds so good and Kent will love it if I make this for him soon. Mexican food is his favorite.

The Mortensens said...

Okay, when I make my own Cafe Rio Salad, I make a pork roast in my crockpot. Then I divide it in half and save half for another time. I add some sweet bbq sauce to the pork, then we make the rice. If you want to get really stylish, we buy the disposable cake pans (like they serve the salad in at cafe rio) and put a warm tortilla in the bottom, then pile on lettuce, rice, black beans, pork, some guacamole, salsa, lime juice, and chips crumbled on top. Then we add the tomatillo dressing. It is YUMMY! I just found a great recipe for cooking black beans in the crockpot, if you any of you want it, let me know! It is really good. I like to make a big batch and then freeze them in little snack size ziplocs. Then all I have to do is heat them up in the microwave.

Christine Archibald said...

Kara, you are so good at all of this cooking and freezing stuff! Keep the tips and recipes coming! I am going to try this tomorrow night, Kent will be so excited. Well, he is excited that I can cook again. I was so sick with morning sickness, we had pretty poor diets.

The Mortensens said...

I'm glad you like my recipes. I also hope you are feeling better! Let me know how the meal went, it is one of our favorites!!!