CINCO DE MAYO EATS

Oh man, is there anything I love more than a good Margarita? No, absolutely not. When I take a sip of that perfect trifecta of salt, sweet, and lime, I am in my happy place. Living in California, I have no shortage of mexican restaurants to indulge in tacos and margaritas, but they are also among my favorite things to whip up at home. Mostly because they are so easy! Since today is Cinco de Mayo, I want to share my favorite taco and margarita recipes with you. I was a part of a Spanish immersion program from Kindergarten until I graduated high school, so Latin American culture was a large part of my education. Cinco de Mayo has been one of my favorite holidays for a long time, and now that I'm old enough to add in the margs, it's even better.

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Taco recipe is from my favorite food blog, Half Baked Harvest! and the Margarita recipe is from Camille Styles. There are so many different margarita recipes out there, with lots of flavors and ingredients, but I love the simplicity of Camille's margaritas. When they are good, they are good and don't need anything fancy.

Taco Image via Half-Baked HarvestMargarita Image via Camille Styles

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Tacos (via Half Baked Harvest, original recipe post here)

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato, cut into thick sticks or chopped (if roasting in the oven)
• 1 pound ground mexican chorizo
• 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
• 4 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 corn or flour tortillas, warmed
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 2 ears grilled corn
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt + pepper, to taste
• 1 avocado, skin and pit removed + chopped or sliced
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1 poblano pepper
• 2 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Franks)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper, taste

Instructions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add garlic and sweet potatoes and stir.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes, until sweet potatoes are just softened. Crumble in the chorizo

and cook until browned and cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. I like to really grind up the

meat with a wooden spoon to make sure the meat gets cooked and browned evenly.

2. While the sweet potatoes are cooking make the roasted poblano crema, remove the core and

seeds from peppers and slice in half. Lay on a baking sheet and preheat the broiler on your

oven. Place under the broiler skin-side up until skins are completely charred and black – this

took about 5 minutes for me, but sometimes is can go faster or shorter. I like to check them

every 2 or 3 minutes and rotate if needed. Immediately remove peppers from oven and using

kitchen tongs, quickly place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (obviously being sure to not

let plastic wrap touch peppers). Set aside for 15 minutes. Or you can grill the peppers directly

on the grill until charred.

3. While the peppers cool throw the salsa together. In a medium size bowl add the black beans,

grilled corn, jalapeno, cilantro, green onions, lime juice and cumin. Season with salt and

pepper and toss well. Set aside

4. Once the peppers are cool remove some of the charred skin (I like to leave some of the skin on,

but that is up to you) and place the pepper, avocado, greek yogurt, lime juice and hot sauce in

the bowl of a food processor. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and process until smooth. Taste

and season to your liking.

5. To assemble, place generous spoonfuls of the sweet potato + chorizo mixture in warm tortillas.

Top with shredded cheese, then black bean and corn salsa and roasted poblano crema.

Agave Margaritas (via Camille Styles, original recipe post here)

Ingredients

• 1 lime wedge
• Kosher salt
• Ice
• 2 ounces silver tequila
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 ounce light agave nectar

Instructions

Moisten half of the outer rim of a glass with the lime wedge (that way, you get salty on one side, but it doesn’t overpower the drink!) and twist the edge into a saucer full of kosher salt . Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the tequila, lime juice and agave nectar. Shake well and strain into the glass. Bottoms up!