Cinco de Mayo: Margaritas and Corn Salsa

Happy warm weather! Soon there will be BBQs, picnics and outdoor concerts galore. But most importantly, the season of sun dresses and fresh, acidic food is upon us. Cinco de Mayo is the perfect launch for tangy, tart and fresh food.

This year for Cinco de Mayo, I based a meal off of couple of my mom’s recipes. This delicious corn salsa is creamy with avocados, chock full of fresh flavor and has a wonderful bite from squeezed lime. A heads up that this recipe makes a huge batch. I’ve shared it at work and have already gotten recipe requests!

And since it’s not Cinco de Mayo, or really any gathering of people in warm weather, without margaritas, I made my mom’s own “secret recipe.” Which is not a secret at all, since she’s happy to share it. It just sounds more exciting if it’s secret.

Corn Salsa:

1 16oz. Pkg. Frozen corn
4 avocados, peeled and cubed
4 large tomatoes, diced
6 green onions, chopped
1 can diced green chiles
fresh garlic to taste
chopped fresh cilantro (to taste, but I use a ton!)
the juice of two limes
Canned jalapenos (again, to taste depending on spice factor you want to achieve)
Italian dressing

Thaw corn and combine with all other ingredients except dressing.

At this point, you can cover the mixture with bottled Italian dressing, or you could make your own. It takes no time at all if you have a few basic items in your spice rack. I opted to make an Italian dressing minus the thyme, oregano, and other Italian-y spices. The mixture I came up with:

1 T garlic salt
1 T onion flakes
1 T sugar
5 T olive oil
3 T water
1 tsp black pepper
1 T red wine vinegar

Shake the ingredients to combine in a closed container.

Pour dressing over ingredients to cover.  Refrigerate several hours (overnight is perfect). Drain excess dressing before serving.  Add salt to taste. Then, eat!

We ate the corn salsa alongside pork tacos. If that sounds good to you, the pulled pork was dressed in a mole sauce (being made below) to which we added cilantro, cheese and more lime. The corn salsa works well as a dip, a taco topper, and even on lettuce or spinach used as a salad dressing.

Now, for the perfect accompaniment to any dish you choose to pair with the corn salsa…

Margaritas:

Minute Maid lime juice concentrate (Not off-brand. This is the number one rule, weird as it may be.)
Tequila (I use Jose Cuervo)
Triplesec

Mix can of juice concentrate, one empty juice can full of tequila, 1/2 a can of Triplesec, and 2-3 cans water (depending how much ice you’re using, the strength you want, etc.) Stir and pour in a margarita glass, with a salted rim if you like. Or any old glass will do, really. There you have it.

Do you have any favorite Cinco de Mayo foods or traditions?

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