Cinco de Mayo (on the 7th??)

Sometimes the best plans just don’t quite work out.

Cinco de Mayo isn’t a huge deal in Canada, but San Francisco has so many great festivals and events commemorating the day.  And of course, all of them have an abundance of tasty foods!  I was excited to check out the festivities.  The plan was to hit the food trucks at the SOMA StrEAT food park for their Taco Festival and Pinata Party (just a few blocks away from our new place – yay!).  It ended up that my stomach was not feeling well on Sunday and I knew that tacos, jalapeno peppers and margaritas were definitely a bad idea!  The guacamole and pico de gallo I was planning to make later that afternoon were also going to have to be on hold.

Finally, by the 7th, I was ready to prepare our own little fiesta.  I love how easy these recipes are…basically just chop and mix together.  The key is having the most ripe and fresh ingredients you can get.

Lisa's Guacamole

3 avocados
1/3 tsp cumin
1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tbsp.)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
I get everything but the avocados chopped up and ready to go first.
Mix together the cumin, tomato, jalapeno, red onion and garlic.
Mash up the avocados.  Keep them as smooth or as chunky as you prefer.  I made 2 pretty smooth but then left the third one chunkier.
Stir the first mixture into the avocado, add the lime juice and cilantro and mix everything together.  Finally, add salt and pepper to taste.
And voila...it's that simple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pico de Gallo

This was adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse.  I added a little more jalapeno and cilantro.  They say most people either love or hate cilantro...I'm definitely a lover!

 

1 ½ cups roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

¼ cup sweet white onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

3 tbsp. lime juice

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

Chop everything up.  Mix together.  Enjoy!

 

Better late than never…our Cinco de Mayo Happy Hour!