I can’t remember exactly when I met today’s guest, but I can tell you she was wearing some pretty fabulous shoes.

Meet Emily Hill, from Is This Really My Life.

I admire Emily for many reasons and though her ability to pick out (and wear) an incredible pair of heels is quite a skill, it is the least of her talents.

Emily is a writer. A great writer. There is no better way to improve your own writing skills than to read the work of someone good so after you bookmark this delicious recipe, run over and peruse her site!

Slow Cooker Cafe Rio Pork

One of my first Slow Cooker Anyday guest posts was by my dear friend Vanessa. She posted a delicious (and I know because we’ve tried it) version of Cafe Rio-style shredded pork and their famous house dressing.

Because we can’t get enough Cafe Rio around here, I knew I had to share one of my favorite Cafe Rio-style slow cooker recipes. You definitely need to give this slow cooker Cafe Rio sweet pork recipe a try, and you definitely need to top it with some homemade Cafe Rio creamy cilantro dressing. Most definitely, in fact.

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Slow Cooker Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
3 lb pork roast
1 chipped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T butter

2 T soy sauce
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Saute onion and garlic in butter. Place roast in crock pot and cover with onion. Cook about 3 hours on high (or low equivalent). Drain liquid and save in fridge; shred pork. Add the soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, salt and pepper and cook an additional 2 hours on high (or low equivalent). Skim off fat from reserved liquid and add to pork (to taste).

Serve on tortillas with Zataran’s Black Beans & Rice, cheese, pico de gallo…whatever you like! I used lettuce, shredded cheese and fresh tomatoes from our garden. Top it with creamy cilantro dressing (recipe below).

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Creamy Cilantro Dressing
2 T salsa verd
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pkg buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 to 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 bunch cilantro (with stems)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Lime juice from 1 lime

Add ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Chill 1 hour (if you can wait that long).

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Emily, thank you so much for sharing this great recipe. It’s one of my favorites and I would never have been able to capture such great photos!