::Pulled/Shredded Sweet Pork::

So, I'm not a huge fan of anything sweet on any type of meat, but I know my friend Jessica (who is such a cute & sweet mommy to 3 precious children) absolutely LOVES the sweet pork salad from Costa Vida. I must admit, I'm a fan of the steak and chicken...so, in my search for the perfect "knock-off" of their ranch dressing, I came across this for her. Figured some other people may be interested as well.

Ingredients:
4 lb pork shoulder roast (the more fat, the better)
1 cup of Pace Picante Sauce (medium works best, but mild is fine)
2 cups brown sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Remove pork roast from packaging, rinse well under cool water.
2. In a separate bowl, mix picante sauce & brown sugar. Wisk together until sugar is mostly dissolved.
3. In a crock pot or slow cooker, place the roast in the cooker & cover with picante sauce mixture.
4. Place on medium heat, cover & simmer. Check every hour or so to rotate roast in the juices. The roast will eventually produce enough juices to make the right consistency, do not add water.
5. Once the roast is fully cooked, it will begin to fall apart. Use a fork to separate meat into smaller segments. Cover & continue cooking.
6. After 8 hours, continue to shread the meat until no chunks remain.
7. If appears to have too much liquid, turn the slow cooker to low & leave with lid off to simmer off excess.


So, that's it for the sweet pork...I've found a few things that make putting it together in a salad taste very close to the Costa Vida made one. To put together your salad:
1 head romain lettuce
1 can Bush's black or pinto beans
3 cups sweet pork
Pico de Gallo (see below)
Tortilla Strips
Cilantro Ranch Dressing (see below)
6 Flour Tortillas
Place a warm tortilla in a bowl or on a plate. Place approximately 1/3 cup of warmed sweet pork & 1/3 cup of warmed Bush’s beans on the tortilla. Place lettuce over the meat & beans. Sprinkle ¼ cup of pico de gallo over the salad as desired. Drizzle with cilantro ranch dressing and top with a healthy amount of tortilla strip crunchies. Serve and enjoy.

Pico de Gallo
1 cup diced tomatoes, seeds removed
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 jalapeno diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 limes, juiced
1 Tbsp cilantro
Salt & Pepper

Mix all ingredients in bowl, stirring well. Chill.

Cilantro Ranch Dressing
(my personal favorite!)
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk ranch dressing (prepare according to package directions)
2 tomatillos (they look like green tomatoes, you can substitute 3 Tbsp prepared salsa verde-found near the regular salsas)
cilantro-about 1/4 of a bunch
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/8 tsp Tabasco

Peel tomatillos & cut into fourths. Clean & rinse cilantro & remove large stems. Pour prepared ranch dressing in a blender, & add cilantro leaves, tomatillos, garlic, lime juice & Tobasco. Blend until cilantro is finely chopped. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until dressing has thickened.