Fun Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

I love preparing and eating Mexican foods. Although I don’t normally need an excuse to make a batch of salsa or a tray of enchiladas, the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday gives us all a good reason to have some fun with Mexican flavors in the kitchen! Here are some recipes that would be perfect for the occasion:

(Scroll down for links to each recipe.)

Matt and I are going to celebrate the holiday a few days late with a “Diez de Mayo” potluck party. We’re going to provide margaritas along with rotisserie chicken and pork carnitas tacos for our friends and then they’ll bring additional dishes with them. I can’t wait!!

Our Fiesta invitation postcards for Diez de Mayo

Do you have any special party or food plans for Cinco de Mayo? Please tell me about them in the comments section! 🙂

Recipe Links for the Cinco de Mayo Dishes shown above:
Pork Tinga Tacos • Margaritas on the Rocks • Chorizo-Bean Tortas
Rotisserie Chicken Burritos • Poblano Sausage Tacos • Frozen Strawberry Margaritas
Salsa Verde Enchiladas • Pozole Verde • Jalapeño Garlic Chicken Quesadillas

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

Here’s a tasty little frozen drink recipe that we whipped up this afternoon after a long day at work.  We’ve been having a heat wave here (today the weather has ‘cooled down’ to about 90°) so anything involving ice sounds good to us!  This recipe is a blended, fruitier version of my Margaritas on the Rocks.

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas  (makes 2 drinks)

You will need…
5 cups Ice Cubes
5 oz. Silver Tequila
1.5 oz. Triple Sec
3.5 oz. Lime Juice (I use Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice)
2 oz. Simple Syrup (1/2 part sugar and 1/2 part water that’s been boiled together and cooled)
12-15 Strawberries, leaves removed
Lime, to garnish

Directions:
Place the ice cubes in a blender and blend until the ice is partially chopped.  (My blender has an “ice crush” setting that does a good job of breaking up the ice so I use this setting.)  Add the tequila, triple sec, lime juice, simple syrup and strawberries and blend until the strawberries are completely incorporated.  Pour into a glass and garnish with a lime wedge.  Enjoy!

Margaritas on the Rocks

Here’s another delicious summer-inspired recipe: Margaritas!  I never liked tequila very much until our neighbors, Jack and Julie, invited us over for a BBQ last summer.  While we chatted Jack whipped (well, shook) up some wonderful margaritas and served them to us in salt-rimmed glasses.  What a great summer drink!  Afterwards we looked for our own margarita recipe and came up with these.  I can’t remember exactly where I found the recipe online but it may have been from the Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice web site…

Margaritas on the Rocks  (makes 2 drinks)

You will need…
5 oz. Silver Tequila
1.5 oz. Triple Sec
3.5 oz. Lime Juice (you can juice fresh limes or just use Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice)
3.5 oz. Simple Syrup (this is 1/2 part sugar and 1/2 part water; boil them together and allow to cool.  I keep a bottle of homemade SS in the fridge.)
Lime Wedge, to garnish
Salt for Glass Rims, if desired

Directions:
Pour the liquid ingredients in a shaker with a few ice cubes.  Shake thoroughly and pour into glasses filled with ice (and rimmed in salt if desired).  Garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy!