Taco Wedge, 4 Ingredient Salsa and Healthy Real Food Margs (Zero-proof or OG)!

The Cinco de Mayo Party Menu (Recipes and Shopping List, too) for Bikini Season

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It almost slipped by me. I got an email Wednesday promising Top Shelf Reposado margaritas for $5 then it hit me…Cinco de Mayo is this weekend! Let me just put this out there…I and most other Americans aren’t celebrating anything other than an opportunity to happily enjoy Mexican food and margaritas. Let’s be real, this is any given day for Texans but if you don’t have $5 margs available or you want a cleaner and cheaper version, I’ve got the perfect at-home, real food healthier yet still delicious version below as well as a full menu for your own Cinco de Mayo party. Download the full menu with recipes and shopping list at the bottom of this post…but please keep reading for all my tips and notes. (Or listen to audio version if you’re a paid subscriber.)

The Tex-Mex Real Mex Debate

Mexican food is quite the debate in Texas. Old-timers will swear by the Tex-Mex red beef chili and cheese drenched enchiladas and crispy beef tacos (notice a theme?) It’s what I was raised on as “Mexican” food. Then I found out the truth when I was in Mexico and discovered the chile salted fruits and veggies, small street tacos with minimal toppings, banging fresh salsas and super light ceviche. Once I discovered this cuisine in the early 2000s, there was no turning back. Except for a taco salad.

Not Your Mom’s (or the Cafeteria Lady’s) Taco Salad

Why a taco salad? This retro, weeknight, busy mom, go-to dinner features one of the least expensive proteins and goes from grocery bag to dinner in well under 30 minutes even making your own salsa. So the question should be why wouldn’t you make it?

The old school way of making taco salad was with a tortilla bowl. We’re nixing that because it is the 3rd of May and bikini season is right around the corner. Let’s use those calories for a margarita, shall we?

The 30 Minute Method

The main dish can be made in under 30 minutes. Everything else will take another 30-45 minutes but it all can be the day before.

I have included my recipes for Mexican Spice Blend (AKA taco seasoning) and my 4 ingredient salsa. Both use ingredients from my “25 Must Have Ingredients” list I posted earlier this week and they together take under 10 minutes. If you don’t have the time for these extra steps, see NOTES below for alternatives.

The meat mixture takes about 10-15 minutes to cook. While it’s cooking, you can prep the other ingredients.

The Margaritas

These are about as healthy as you can get when drinking alcohol. You’ll be using honey syrup instead of simple syrup or Cointreau (very high sugar.) You can add a drop or two of high quality orange essential oil or muddle some orange peel before adding other ingredients to give that slight orange flavor that the orange liqueur brings to the table. See notes below for a pretty legit zero proof - aka mocktail aka alcohol free - version.

Taco Salad Party Tricks

• Pull out your charcuterie boards for this wedge presentation and this 80s fave jumps right into the 2020s. Serve on a large board or serve on individual boards like these.

• Make your own 5 minute/4 ingredient salsa and batch the healthy marg recipe for further party planner cred

• I have included Chili Lime Salt to season the lettuce, feel free to use plain sea salt if you don’t have it. If you do, rim your Margarita glasses with that instead of regular salt to make them extra special. Feel free to add some sliced jalapenos to the pitcher as well to make a spicy marg.

• Have extra chips and salsa for the first round of margaritas. Feel free to add guac or queso if you’re so inclined. The salsa recipe makes 3 cups so more than enough for up to 8 people for both the wedge and apps

• Ask your friends to bring dessert if you’re doing everything else

NOTES:

• Party Planning Math - The recipes for the taco salad and margs are for four people. Multiply for the number you will be entertaining. The salsa makes about 3 cups or enough for 10-12 people.

• Make Ahead - Salsa can be made days in advance. The taco meat mixture can be made a day or two ahead and the toppings can be prepped earlier in the day. The only thing to save until closer to serving time is cutting the iceberg into wedges. Iceberg will rust if cut in advance.

• Meal Prep - If you have leftovers or just want to have uber-tasty meal prep, make it into a Mason jar salad by layering in this order: Salsa, crema, tomatoes, green onions and cilantro, cheese, taco meat, lettuce. Serve chips on the side to crumble last minute.

• Keto - Leave off the chips and go easy on the tomatoes and salsa. Limit the honey in margs.

• Paleo - Skip the shredded cheese and use Siete or other grain free tortilla chips and yogurt or paleo-friendly ranch dressing instead of the sour cream. I love CoCoJune for Greek style coconut yogurt and Primal Kitchen Ranch or Vegan Ranch (no eggs) for super clean bottled dressing. Use code RFSVIP to get 10% off your order.

• Dairy Free - Use VioLife Cheddar Shreds and Kite Hill sour cream or CocoJune plain yogurt as a sub for sour cream in crema.

• Vegan - Use Abbot’s Butcher ground beef or chorizo, (Beyond beef is not real food, please don’t use it. Reach out and I will tell you why if you’re curious.) Use the Dairy Free subs above for cheese and sour cream. Use maple syrup or coconut sugar simple syrup instead of honey.

• Double the Mexican Spice Blend -This spice blend is one I keep made up at all times. It comes in clutch for so many things. The recipe on the PDF makes enough to fill a half-pint Mason jar. You will use half of it for the recipe as written. You will obviously need to make more

• No Time for DIYing - I choose to make my own spice blends to avoid all the additives and salsa just because it tastes better than jarred. But if you prefer not to DIY, Siete Foods makes awesome Taco Seasoning packets in Mild and Hot (it’s no joke!) and several hot sauces and salsa.

• Healthy Tequila? - From a purely holistic health perspective, additive free tequilas such as La Pulga or Lalo would be considered the healthiest version. They are quite a bit more pricey though. We’re sticking to our norm for this time around as we’re on a tight budget.

• Zero Proof Tequila - An oxymoron, yes, but if you like the peppery taste of tequila and want something that’s a little closer to the real thing than using sparkling water, Ritual Zero Proof Tequila is pretty legit.

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Printable PDF with Recipes