I love celebrating Cinco de Mayo! Contrary to popular belief, it is not the Mexican independence day- in fact it is celebration of the Mexicans defeating the French in the battle of 1862.

I love mexican and southwestern flavors including lime, cilantro, avocados and peppers. I guess the bold flavors remind me of Indian food- and that is probably why I love Thai food so much!  

In this case, I wanted to make tacos with shrimp- especially since my daughter loves them both!  Any meat including chicken, beef or pork can be substituted.  The citrus marinade is quite versatile so no matter what you use, the tacos will be delicious!  The accompaniments are quite important- you can use your favorites. This dish is great to make for a crowd- everyone can make their own with their favorite accompaniments. I thought of making a regular salsa with tomatoes, etc but decided to do something different and make a pineapple salsa instead.  The tangy flavor in a pineapple lends itself to a delicious sweet and sour salsa. It was yummy with the tacos and the spanish rice.  Now I took a little help from the store and used a boxed rice mix.  It works really well since I modified it to my taste and saved some time. I added fresh peppers, onions,cilantro and lime juice- they all helped with enhancing the flavor- it really doesn’t taste like it’s from a box!

I would serve the meal with a delicious white wine or a frozen margarita or maybe a yummy citrusy mojito!  I haven’t had those in a long time.  I will post a recipe soon- just as soon as the mint starts to grow in my back yard and my husband gets busy mixing those drinks he does so well!  Happy Cinco de Mayo- hope you eat and drink well with your family and friends- nothing better than that!!

Tacos

• 1 pound shrimp
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Marinade

• 3 blood oranges, juiced (substitute with navel oranges)
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

Mix all the ingredients and marinate the shrimp for 3-4 hours.
Take the shrimp out of the marinade (keep the marinade to add to the shrimp later). In a wide frying pan, heat the olive oil. Add the shrimp and cook till pink, 3-4 minutes. Take the shrimp out and add the reserved marinade and cook on high till it thickens. Add the shrimp to the sauce and keep aside.

Taco Accompaniments

• 6-8 small tortillas, heated on a non-stick frying pan
• 1 avocado cut into ½ inch wedges- keep aside with 1 teaspoon salt and juice and zest of one lime
• 1 large onion, sliced thin- cook in a frying pan with 1 teaspoon oil. Cook till golden brown. Add salt and keep aside.
• ½ cup queso fresco, crumbled
• ½ cilantro, chopped

Assemble each taco with shrimp and sauce. Top with an avocado slice, slice onion, queso fresco and cilantro. Serve with Spanish rice and pineapple salsa.

Spanish Rice

• One store-bought package of Spanish rice
• Chicken broth, amount according to the package directions
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup any color bell pepper, chopped
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced

In a deep heavy pan heat the olive oil. Add the onions and the garlic and the bell pepper.
Saute for a minute and add the spice packet. Saute for another minute and add the rice. Saute for an additional minute and add the amount of broth indicated on the package. Once the rice is cooked, add the cilantro and lime juice.

Pineapple Salsa

• 1 cup fresh pineapple, coarsely chopped
• ½ orange pepper, chopped
• ½ cup green onion, chopped
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon adobo sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl mix all the ingredients. Let it sit for 30 minutes and serve with chips, tacos or fish.