Cafe Rio Cheats (From Jill)

Cafe Rio-ish Chicken
5 lbs. chicken (I used one of those 3 lb. frozen packages Wal-Mart sells that used to be 5 lbs. But that's a different post)
1 small (8 oz) bottle Zesty Italian Salad Dressing (or measure out 1 cup from that big bottle, no one will know the difference...except your garbage man, maybe)
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 1/2-ish tbsp. minced garlic from a bottle in your fridge)

Put the chicken (defrosted if you bought it frozen) in your slow cooker. Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the happy chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours (depending on your slow cooker - mine cooks super hot and only took 5 hours). Shred the chicken and then cook an additional hour. If you can stand the wait.

Cafe Rio-esque rice
1/2 bunch cilantro1 small can green chilies
1/2 medium onion
3 cups water
3 cups instant rice
4 tsp chicken bouillon
4 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
In a blender or food processor blend cilantro, chilies, and onion. Bring water to a boil and add all remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover. Remove from heat. Let sit about 5 minutes.

Cilantro-Lime Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch packet
2 tomatillos
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno, seeded (watch out! Don't touch your eyes! These little things are hot!)

Make ranch dressing according to package directions. In a blender or food processor whirl together the tomatillos, cilantro and jalapeno. Now add the garlic and lime juice to your blended mix. Blend again. Combine with ranch dressing (which you made up in style an hour ago - look at you, planning ahead and all! I'm so proud.) and enjoy.My additions:*Dave and I love to add black beans to the rice. When we eat it we pile everything on a tortilla (including the dressing), roll it up and top it with more dressing. Add cheese, salsa, whatever your heart desires. *I also nixed making up the package of ranch dressing and just used 2 cups of already prepared ranch dressing. A tiny bit thicker than I remember when I used the dressing packet last time, but still delicious!