Sweet Pork Burritos

I made these burritos for my little (I really shouldn't call him little anymore, he's way taller than me) brother's birthday since he loves mexican food. It was the first time that I tried all three of these recipes, and WOW, I was amazed at how good they were. Like, seriously, they were as good as a really good restaraunt's food! In fact, one of my brother's friends said, "Have you ever eaten at Cafe Rio (a way good restaraunt in Utah)? This tastes just like their food!" I was so excited to hear that!!

The recipe for the pork, from my aunt, is actually a copy-cat recipe for Cafe Rio Pork. As I was making it, the sauce that it simmers in didn't smell that great. All I could smell was cola soda and salsa and the combination does not sound very good, I know, but you have got to taste this. The meat was amazing!!! I actually made the meat a day in advance because it takes 8 hours to cook in the crockpot, which turned out great. The flavors really came together overnight! Then you are just left with making the rice and the black beans the next day. And those are a breeze to put together.

Here are the three recipes I used to make Sweet Pork Burritos...

Sweet Shredded Pork:

6 lb pork roast
1 (16 oz) bottle of salsa
1 (12 oz) can cola soda
2 C. brown sugar

Place pork in crock-pot and fill it half way up the pork with water. Cook on high for 5 hours. Drain off water. Cut pork in thirds. Mix together sauce ingredients and put on top of pork. Cook additional 3 hours on high. Shred pork with forks. Can refrigerate overnight then warm in crockpot until ready to eat.

Cilantro Lime Rice (my oldest sister's recipe):

3 C. chicken broth
1 1/2 C. uncooked white rice
2 t. lime zest (I just zested one whole lime and used that)
2 T. chopped cilantro
2 small cloves of garlic OR 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. butter
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Pepper to taste

Pour all ingredients into rice cooker for the easy version, or leave the lime juice and cilantro to add at the end for a fresher look. Or on the stovetop: In a saucepan combine chicken broth, rice, lime zest, garlic, pepper, and butter. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low, simmering for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, and add cilantro and lime juice, stirring to combine.

Quick & Easy Black Beans (from ourbestbites.com):

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 T. dried, minced or chopped onion
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 C. chicken broth
1/4 t. cumin
1/4 t. coriander (I didn't have any coriander on hand, so I left it out and it tasted just fine)
1/4 t. oregano
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
Juice from 1/2 lime

In a saucepan on the stove, combine all ingredients except lime juice, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low simmer for about seven minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, remove from heat and add lime juice. Using the back of a spoon or rubber spatula, smash most of the beans. It will thicken upon standing.

To make the burritos, put shredded pork on a tortilla, top with beans, then rice, and sour cream and guacamole. Oh so very good!!! The next time I make this, I will either use a 4-6 lb. pork roast and leave everything else as is, or I will use the 8 to 10 lbs of pork and double the rice and beans. Make this for a party or for your own family. You'll have tons left over, but this is one dish you won't mind eating for lunch and dinner a few days in a row. Trust me!