Making our own Cafe Rio Chicken salads

Cafe Rio Chicken (I have 3 different recipes but all good)

-Chicken
Kara's favorites:
4 chicken breasts
1 onion chopped
2 cans diced green chiles
2 cups chicken broth
1 TB cumin
Kosher salt
Cook in crock pot 6 hours
or
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
1 TB chili powder
1 TB cumin
3 cloves garlic minced
5 lbs chicken
Cook in crock pot 4 hours

Chad's favorite
3 or 4 chicken breasts
(put in crock-pot and season however you want)
2 cans of sm. Tomato sauce
1 can of el pato tomato sauce(sm) in Hispanic section
1 ½ c. brown sugar
Cook about 4 hours until chicken is cooked, then shred and leave in crock-pot on warm to hang out until needed

-Rice part
4 cups water
2 cups rice
4 tsp chicken bouillon or about 4 cubes
1 TBS butter

combine in blender or magic bullet:
4 tsp garlic powder
½ bunch cilantro
1 c. green chilies
¾ tsp salt
½ onion

Add to rice mixture, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25-30 mins on low heat.

Dressing —all in blender or bullet (this you can do a day ahead of time or so if you’d like)
¾ c. buttermilk
4 oz. green chilies
½ c. cilantro
3 sm. Tomatillos
½ tsp. lime juice
1 c. mayo
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp salt
1 pkg ranch dressing mix

Blend until smooth.


For salad, get uncooked tortillas from Costco (or make your own), heat and sprinkle with a little cheese, add warmed black or pinto beans, rice, romaine, chicken, sauce, and more cheese.

We make our own whole wheat tortillas:
Pre-heat heavy fry pan on med-heat.
Mix 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 TB wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Add and mix 1 cup hot water and 1/3 cup light olive oil (or any oil)

Let rest 10 min.
Knead until smooth. Pinch off 2" pieces of dough. Flatten on lightly floured surface and roll with rolling pin until thin. Fry on hot DRY pan for 2 min. on each side. Store in plastic bag.