Let’s Taco Bout Cinco de Mayo Recipes

My family loves all things related to Mexican food. Most Sundays our after church go-to lunch includes a stop by our favorite Mexican restaurant. We love it so much that I usually cook at least one Mexican inspired dish every week because I can guarantee the family will eat it.

Cinco de Mayo is just another opportunity for us to eat more good Mexican grub! I thought I would share with you a few of the essentials for any Mexican feast – homemade salsa, guacamole and margaritas. Grab your chips. Salud!

Super Simple Restaurant Salsa

YIELD: ABOUT 4 CUPS | TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES | PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

My favorite thing about this salsa is how easy it is to make! All you have to do is add all the ingredients to your food processor or blender. It’s one of those recipes that you’ll have to stop, taste and tweak based on your personal preferences so have your chips handy. It’s amazing right out of the food processor but make it a day in advance to let the flavors really blend. Forget about buying store-brought salsa, you’ll be giving your favorite Mexican restaurant a run for it’s money!

Ingredients

• 28 ounce can whole plum tomatoes (with juice)
• 1 small white onion, roughly chopped
• 2 jalepeno peppers, chopped (seed the peppers; use only 1 if you don’t want it spicy)
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin (or more to taste)
• 1-1/2 tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
• 1/2 – 1 tsp sugar, optional and to taste (the sugar balances the heat and acidity of the tomatoes; start with less and add as necessary)
• 1/2 -1 cup cilantro (I use 1 cup and sometimes more!)
• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Instructions

1. Add the ingredients in the food processor or blender in the order listed. Pulse a few times to break up the larger pieces, then process until texture is smooth as desired.
2. Taste the salsa and adjust seasoning according to taste. I almost always end up adding more salt and cilantro.
3. Chill for at least 2 hours. I like to chill for 24 hours to let flavors meld.
4. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks

Perfect Guacamole

YIELD: ABOUT 4 SERVINGS | TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES | PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

Avocados, how I love thee. And perhaps I love you most in the form of guacamole. After all, that was how we met. Many years ago I was introduced to you made fresh table-side at a restaurant.

Over many Daniel Fasts I’ve developed my own solid guacamole recipe. Sharing all this love with ya’ll so you can party like a guac-star too.

Ingredients

• 3 ripe avocados
• 1 jalepeno, cored and finely diced
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion (or more to taste)
• 1 – 2 limes, juiced (we lean towards 2, we like ours lime-y)
• 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped (or more to taste; we always add more because we love it!)
• 1 tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
• 1-2 tsp minced garlic (we use the jarred garlic for this recipe as it tends to be milder)
• 2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

Instructions

1. Mash together avocados, jalepeno, green onion, lime juice, cilantro, garlic and salt with a fork until well mixed. Stir in tomatoes.
2. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap. The plastic should be touching the top lay of guacamole to keep it from browning). Enjoy!

Perfect Pineapple Salsa

YIELD: ABOUT 6 SERVINGS | TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES | PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

Another easy and super tasty salsa recipe. I could (and have) eaten an entire bowl of this in one sitting. What I love about this recipe is that it’s so versatile. Use it on top of fish, quesadillas, salads, nachos, tacos…the list goes on and on. It’s best with fresh pineapple which is in season now! But in a pinch it’s also great with canned.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped pineapple
• 1/3 medium red onion
• 1 jalepeno (seeded if you don’t want the heat)
• 1-2 limes
• 1/3 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 – 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Chop the pineapple into small pieces. If you’re using canned, make sure the pineapple is drained extremely well prior to chopping.
2. Dice red onion and jalepeno.
3. Chop cilantro. Place in bowl with pineapple, red onion and jalepeno.
4. Squeeze the lime juice over the ingredients and stir.
5. Add salt to taste. Enjoy!

The Only Margarita Recipe You Need

YIELD: ABOUT 6 SERVINGS | TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES | PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES

Last but certainly not least, I had to share a beloved recipe that I’ve used for years. One of my all-time favorite co-workers, Andrea, shared it with me many moons ago and it’s stood the test of time. It’s uncomplicated, not fancy and doesn’t require you to stock your bar with stuff you wont use often (like triple sec or cointreau). Proceed with caution though, they’re no joke!

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate (I like this brand with no high fructose corn syrup)
• 12 ounces tequila (I prefer white)
• 12 ounces beer (I prefer a light beer like Corona)
• Ice
• Lime wedges
• Course salt

Instructions

1. Pour limeade, tequila, beer and water into a large pitcher. Stir until well-blended and limeade has melted. Add ice. Run lime wedges around glass rims. Add salt to rims. Garnish with lime wedges.

*For the absolute gangster frozen version of this recipe, omit water. Add limeade, tequila, beer and ice to blender and blend until smooth.

**My best friend Bri recently made these using coconut tequila and it was

AH-MAZING. It was like a cross between a pina colada and a margarita. I highly recommend.

Other EPP Mexican inspired recipes you’ll love…

• Roasted corn and zucchini black bean tacos
• Fiesta black beans
• Chipotle burrito bowl
• Mexican quinoa stuffed peppers
• Slow cooker 3-bean chili