Thanksgiving Dinner - Texas style

*Fully Cooked Mesquite smoked Brisket from HEB (just has to be heated)
*Cajun Roast Rabbit
*Sweet Potato Biscuits
*Macaroni and Cheese
*Herbed Broccoli & Tomatoes
*Smashed Potatoes (requested by Leah)
*Green Salad (spinach and arugula w/ persimmons, maple pecans, and manchego - simple balsalmic vinegar and olive oil dressing)
*Orange Ginger Pecan Cranberry Sauce
*Orange Fluff Salad
*Maple Pumpkin Pie
*Pecan Pie

Cafe Rio Salad

This dish has been served at the dinner our stake provides before the RS Broadcast each year. It's always a big hit and the recipe is much requested. There are two different versions - chicken and pork. Choose your favorite and the rest is the same. The chicken tends to be a bit drier than the pork, but once you add the salsa and dressing, you would never know! Caution: This recipe makes a lot of food - you can easily serve 10-15 people with one recipe so adjust accordingly.

Just like Café Rio Pork
5-6 lb Pork roast

1 Tbs cumin

1 cup brown sugar

12 oz bottle Taco Sauce
20 oz bottle coke

Cook roast on low for 12 hours in Crock Pot with water covering half the roast. After 12 hours, drain water off roast and add remaining ingredients. Continue cooking 4 hrs. Then shred the meat and cook for 2 hours more. (I prefer cooking my roast in the oven, place in oven at night and cook at 220 degrees 8-12 hours. Drain, shred and add all other ingredients. Put in Crock Pot for about 2-3 hours to blend flavors)

Just like Café Rio Chicken
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. cumin
3 cloves garlic
5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

Pour all ingredients in crock-pot on low for 4 hours. Shred meat and cook for 1 hr more.

Just like Café Rio Creamy Ranch dressing
1 pkg. dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic
3 tomatillos (peel off paper skins)
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. If you can't find tomatillos, you can replace both garlic and tomatillos with 3/4 cup green salsa.

Just like Café Rio Rice
4 tsp garlic
½ bunch cilantro
1 tsp cumin
1 can green chilies
¾ tsp salt
1 Tbs butter
½ chopped onion

Blend all ingredients in blender then put in pan and add 6 cups water, bring to a boil add 3 cups rice, simmer 25 -30 minutes. (Use the directions on your rice package for the amount of water, some rice calls for a 1–2 ratio, some have 1-1½ ratio)

To Serve
Place a tortilla shell on a plate; add rice and beans, meat (pork or chicken), shredded lettuce, cheese, and tortilla strips. Serve with guacamole, Café Rio Dressing, and Pico de Gallo.

Cukes & Onions

We love to eat cucumbers this way - this is a secret family recipe, so don't tell my grandma that I'm sharing it ;)

Combine 1 part apple cider vinegar with 1 part water and add about 1/4 cup sugar per cup of vinegar. Stir until dissolved and add salt and pepper as desired. Slice 1/2 sweet onion and add to the vinegar solution. This will cover about 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced. For the best flavor, refrigerate this at least one day before eating, but it tastes pretty good right away as well.

These last for quite a while in the fridge, so it's a good way to use up those cucumbers that you don't think you'll get to before they go bad.

Bleu Cheese Vinagrette

I love bleu cheese, but usually hate bleu cheese dressing because it's so mayonnaise-y. This one is more of a bleu cheese vinagrette - super tasty!

Bleu Cheese Vinagrette

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

3 Tbsp champagne or white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

2 oz bleu cheese crumbles

Combine first three ingredients in small bowl. Slowly add olive oil while whisking the mixture to mix well. (You could also use a food processor.) Mix in bleu cheese and drizzle over salad.

Crunchy Chicken Salad

This is the classic Ramen noodle and cabbage salad. My kids wouldn't touch it, but A and I finished off the whole bowl!

2 cups diced cooked chicken
4 cups shredded cabbage (I like Fresh Express Angel Hair cabbage shreds)
1 package chicken-flavored ramen noodles
4 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 flavoring packet from ramen noodles
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Place chicken and cabbage in mixing bowl. Break noodles up and add to cabbage with onions and sesame seeds. In small bowl, combine vinegar, oil, sugar, and 1 tsp ramen flavoring. Pour over slaw, mixing well. Cover and refrigerate. Just before serving, stir in slivered almonds. (Side note: I didn't have sesame seeds so I mixed a 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil in with the dressing - I think you actually get a better taste that way.)

Curried Egg Salad

Not much mystery to this one... just your run of the mill egg salad - with curry added to make things interesting! My husband loves curry, but I don't often know what to make with it so I tried adding it to egg salad one day and he loved it. Tonight I also used plain yogurt instead of mayo since I was out and I thought it tasted even better. It gets rid of that heavy, thick taste.

Crunchy Poppyseed Chicken Salad

This salad was absolutely delicious! I love the flavor of the broccoli slaw and you MUST use the cashews for the full effect. I actually had less poppyseed dressing than I thought so I used another fruity one I had on hand (pomegranate/blueberry) and it was just as tasty.

4 cups broccoli slaw

2 large red peppers, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

4 carrots, shredded (about 2 cups)

1 can (8 oz.) pineapple tidbits, drained

1 cup grilled chicken breast, chopped

1/2 cup poppyseed dressing

1/4 cup cashew

Combine all ingredients except cashews and toss to coat with dressing. Sprinkle cashews on top just before serving.

Spinach and Orzo Salad

This yummy salad was another big hit. It has a very mediterranean taste which I love! Next time I'll use half as many onions and add a can of garbanzo beans to make it more kid friendly.

Cabbage & Apple Slaw

This slaw was so tasty! I left out the onions and added 1/2 tsp of celery seed instead and replaced the honey with corn syrup because of allergies. Very creamy and fresh tasting!