Cafe Rio Chicken

I added this picture 10/9/09 after making it again - I should've taken the pic with the final product (salad) but I didn't - just so you could see the basic ingredient and its potential in SO many dishes!!
Cafe Rio is one of my favorite Mexican joints. I have been making Cafe Rio Pork forever - it's one of our favorites - so when I saw this recipe for their chicken - I had to make it.

Saturday, I had a lot of errands to run and knew I would run out of time for dinner. So, I threw everything in the crock pot and went to run errands. When I got home, Sweetness and friends were in the garage brainstorming on one of our current projects. I walked into the house and this whiff of deliciousness filled the garage - lots of yummy noises and questions about what I was cooking... I went in and out of the garage several times (unloading groceries) and by the time I was done unloading, they had all planned a BBQ at our house b/c they couldn't resist! I had their mouths watering...

Everyone gobbled it up (kids included!) The adults had it as a salad and the kids had this as burritos or quesadillas. Yum. Super versitile - so impressive and the crock pot does all the work!I saw this recipe on 365 Days of Crock Pot Recipes.

Café Rio Chicken
5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thawed
8 oz Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
3 cloves minced garlic
Mix all ingredients except the chicken in a bowl. Place chicken on bottom of a greased crockpot. Pour mixture in bowl over the top of chicken. Cook on high 5-7 hours. Shred chicken with a fork and reserve juice to pour over chicken when serving.

**As far as crock pot cooking goes, I like the marinade to cover the protein. With this recipe, I doubled the marinade/dressing so that the chicken would be covered. IT WAS GOOOOOD.

***I just remembered - I got this recipe from 365 Days Of Crock Pot Cooking (see our sidebar)