Tweaking Recipes

We had our Cafe Rio pork salads again last night for dinner. If anyone is interested (I was because we had TONS of leftovers last time with 4 lbs of pork), it works just as well halved, and cooks up in about half the time. Also, I don't thicken the sauce at all because I'm lazy, I just put the shredded pork in the original sauce and let it cook for a little while longer (maybe 20-30 mins).


I also tried a new spin on the dressing. I think I'm just going to tweak the recipe a little in the future to combine the two I have, by using three tomatillos instead of two, and including 1/2 C. sour cream. I like the original recipe a little better. The second one I used has a little too much cilantro and not enough lime juice. I may try adding some zest if I'm feeling ambitious next time. Also, for the more pourable consistency like the restaurant, it works well to refrigerate it for about 24 hours prior to use. I noticed that with my leftovers more than through being prepared for something. If you want the actual second recipe, I totally thieved it from here. Thanks, Joey!

Also, Uncle Ben's has these new "instant rice" packs that you microwave for 90 seconds. I love the Zatarain's Alan usually buys, but this other cooks up a lot faster if you don't have time and it's got a few different kinds of rice and other grains in it, so it has a good flavor and is as healthy as you'd expect from a pre-made, packaged thing.