Cinco de Mayo!

Is everyone getting as excited about Cinco de Mayo as I am?  Yes, we know that Cinco is barely even celebrated in Mexico, but around here we love any excuse for a good party–especially if that party includes loads of margaritas and guacamole.  Tomorrow you can try to weather the crowds at your favorite taco joint, but why not stay home and make some of our favorite Tex-Mex recipes for your friends?  Amazing taste, leftovers, and no Uber required. Here is a round up of our favorite Mexican posts throughout the last year. ¡Happy Cinco!

1. Classic Margaritas

Starting off strong with a classic margarita.

2. Spicy Chicken Tacos with Corn and Black Bean Salsa

The corn salsa gives a little freshness and crunch to this spicy chicken taco.

3. Mexican Street Corn Salad

A take on the traditional elote, this corn salad is the perfect side for your Mexican feast.

4. Slow Roasted Pork Tacos with Salsa Verde

Let the oven and a jar of salsa do all of the work for you–your friends will never know!

 

5. Mahi Tacos with Mango Salsa and Mexican Slaw

The grilled fish along with the sweet slaw gives a little baja flair to this taco.

6. Mexican Chicken Soup

The best take on a comfort food classic. This lightened-up version has lots of fresh lime and cilantro, yum!

7. Healthy Tex-Mex Tostadas with Tomatillo Cilantro Lime Dressing

Loaded up with veggies and a creamy dressing that’s surprisingly healthy, you can get away with eating these tostadas every day of the week.

8. Mexican Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers

Easy weeknight stuffed peppers with a kick from our favorite Mexican seasoning.

9. Creamy Verde Chicken Enchiladas

Green salsa, cream sauce, and tons of melted cheese?  Sign me up!

10. Tacos al Pastor

Pork, pineapple, and spice make these my favorite tacos on the list!

11. Watermelon Agua Fresca and Popsicles

 

Bright, refreshing, and the perfect cool end for your fiesta.

Hope everyone has the happiest of Cinco de Mayos! What are your plans for the big day?

 

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Fresh Margaritas

All of this hot weather certainly calls for an ice cold cocktail, and nothing screams summertime to me like homemade margaritas!  This recipe is drawn from another margarita recipe by Julio Bermejo, a legend in the San Francisco bar scene and definitely the man you want to be making you a stiff drink.  While he suggests using agave instead of sugar, I was plum out of agave!  So I made a simple syrup instead.  Just heat 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Make sure you let this cool completely before adding it to your cocktail.  You can certainly save any leftover simple syrup in the fridge for any future cocktail making adventures.  If you would like to make it Julio’s way, just add 1 Tbsp agave to 1 Tbsp water ( no need to heat) before moving forward with the rest of the recipe as usual.

Fresh Margaritas

-2 Tbsp simple syrup

-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

-1/4 c. tequila

Add everything to a shaker with lots of ice, shake well for about 30 seconds, and strain into a glass with even more ice in it.  Yum!

If you want to make it even better, try rolling the rim of your glass in a little salt or sugar first.  Here’s what I suggest:

Margarita Glass Rim

-1 wedge of lime

-zest of 1 lime

-1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

-1 Tbsp kosher salt

In a shallow dish, combine the lime zest, sugar, and salt.  Then rub the rim of each glass with the wedge of lime and roll them in the salt mixture.  Finally fill each glass with the margaritas, and you’re set!  Enjoy!

Tuesday’s Table – Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers, An Easy Dinner to Take to New Parents

I made this dish recently to deliver to friend’s that had a new baby. It was the perfect thing to take because it’s easy to make and double so you can have it for dinner as well.

I put the stuffed peppers in a throw away aluminum pan, with salad fixings, tortilla chips, garnishes and fresh watermelon in zip lock bags. I threw in a couple of paper plates and napkins to help make clean up easier for parents. Then added a book and a little teething toy for the baby to the tray of items I was taking over. (Recently I have started stock piling children’s books any time I see the classics for a good price. It has been extremely helpful to have these on hand!)

Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers

2-4 Red, Yellow or Orange Bell Peppers (these can feed more people depending on the way you cut them before you stuff)

Mahatma Yellow Rice (one small package, cooked according to directions)

1 pound of lean ground turkey

1 cup of either chicken or vegetable stock

1 sweet onion, chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 Fresh Tomatoes, chopped (or a can of diced tomatoes, drained)

1/2 tsp. cumin

Toppings:

Grated Cheddar or Mexican Blend Cheese

Cilantro

Green Onions

Directions:

Cook rice according to package.

Begin to saute chopped onion, after 3-5 minutes add ground turkey. Let these two brown and cook for 4-5 minutes then add cumin, garlic and tomatoes for the last 2-3 minutes.

While items are still cooking in your skillet wash and prepare the peppers. Slice, remove seeds. Cut tops off of the peppers for larger servings or to stretch your peppers and cut the calories cut each pepper in half from top to bottom, leaving you with two wide, shallow halves.

Once turkey is browned combine the turkey, onion, garlic, tomato mixture to the yellow rice and 1/2 c. of stock.

Place peppers in baking dish, add filling to each pepper, pour any remaining stock or water to the bottom of the baking dish. You need to have about 1 inch of liquid at the bottom of your dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, so the steam will soften and cook the peppers.

Bake at 400 for 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with cheese immediately so it will melt then add cilantro and green onions to garnish.

Serve with a simple green salad. Use any lettuce, add fresh cilantro, one tortilla chip per serving (my favorite crouton substitute!) and your favorite vinaigrette.

Enjoy!!

Healthy Tex-Mex Tostadas with Tomatillo Cilantro Lime Dressing

Surely by now my deep abiding love for all things Tex-Mex has been made pretty obvious.  It’s my go-to comfort food at any and all times of the year, but when it’s this sweltering outside, nothing sounds better to me than a spicy tostada with a nice, cooling margarita! If you want to keep things on the light side, I always suggest making things from scratch, but I just couldn’t resist serving these on top of pre-made tostada shells–yum!  If you’d like to sub these out for something slightly healthier, put corn tortillas in a 350° oven until crispy.  Then top with this amazing tomatillo cilantro lime dressing and all the fixings!

Tex-Mex Tostadas

-1/2 lb ground turkey (can use either turkey or beef or this combination to please everyone)

-1/2 lb ground beef

-1 tsp canola oil

-homemade taco seasoning

In a large skillet, add the oil, turkey, and beef and cook until browned.  Then add the taco seasoning.  Too easy.

  

  
 Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

-2 tomatillos, husks removed, washed

-1 handful of cilantro

-1/2 of an avocado

-Juice of 1/2 of a lime

-1/2 of a jalepeno, seeded or unseeded depending on the amount of heat you want to achieve

-1/4 c. Canola oil

-1, two finger pinch of salt (or two small pinches)

 

Homemade Taco Seasoning

1 Tbs. Chili Powder

3/4 Tbs. Cumin

1/2 Tbs. Paprika

1/2 Tbs. Garlic Powder

1/4 Tbs. Kosher Salt

Several dashes of Cayenne Powder

The best part is that you only need to use a Tablespoon then you can guesstimate accordingly! The less to wash the better.

 

Toppings

-refried beans (we used refried black beans and highly recommend them!)

-chopped lettuce

-chopped tomatoes

-chopped onion

-chopped cilantro

-wedges of lime

-thin slices of fresh or pickled jalapeño

-cotija (white, crumbly Mexican cheese)

We like to serve this Make-Your-Own style.  Everyone gets exactly what they want and less work for you!

Enjoy!

Tuesday’s Table – Mexican Street Corn Salad

Mexican Street Corn has been one of those trends the past few summers that I just adore. So many of my favorites: fresh, sweet summer corn, Mexican flavors, creamy cheesy goodness. Yum. I have said that I wanted to make it time and time again. Finally over the weekend we were going to a cookout and I knew this could be my side dish! Instead of preparing straight off of the grill I wanted to achieve the same tastes but have my dish ready once we went over to our friend’s home so I simply turned your typical Mexican Street Corn into a salad. 

At the cook out we had a simple and festive Memorial Day Menu of hamburgers, cole slaw, this corn salad with bomb pops for dessert. When was the last time you had a bomb pop?! Our menu was the perfect combination of summery and satisfying dishes. 

  
Mexican Street Corn Salad 

*The amount of all  ingredients can be adjusted according to number of people*

6-10 Ears of Corn

Canola Oil (to wipe down corn before grilling)

Juice of 2 Limes (or more to taste)

1-2 Tbs. Mayonnaise

1-2 Tbs. F Free Greek Yogurt

1 Diced Vidalia onion

Large handful of washed, chopped cilantro (divided)

1 c. Feta (divided)

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne

Shuck corn, wipe down with a bit of canola oil, grill for approximately 8 minutes, turning at least once. 

Once corn has several noticeable charred bits, remove from grill.

In small bowl combine remaining ingredients to make dressing.

Cut corn off of the cob into a large bowl, also scrape the back of your knife and scrape the remaining bits and juice of the cob into the bowl.

  

Add dressing to corn, stirring gently.

  

Top with feta, cilantro and any remaining spices.

Enjoy!