cinco de mayo

This past Saturday was Cinco de Mayo. For us, this is just simply the day we set aside to have Mexican for dinner. I started out by making us Watermelon Margaritas. I don't typically enjoy margaritas, but after having an unbelievable one at Mesa Grill in Vegas, I decided that this might work for us. We had everything already in the house including a small seedless watermelon, so I got right to work. You start by making a simple syrup with steeped orange zest. Once cooled, it's simply blending and straining the watermelon and adding tequila. O-M-G - killer, killer drink. Like, deadly and all too easy to guzzle. We both absolutely loved this recipe and I'd definitely make these for friends/family in the future.

Then for dinner we had Seared Steak Fajitas with a side of the ever popular Cilantro Lime Rice. Both recipes are from Everyday Food Light. I took my own liberties with the fajitas. To start, I bought poblano peppers along with green peppers which worked really well. Gave a great Mexican flavour and slight bite that they wouldn't have had otherwise. The recipe also indicates to add diced tomato as a topping, I actually made this salsa fresca instead and it gave it even more of a flavour boost. After making these I'd definitely use a different cut of beef. The recipe is 'light' because they recommend you use top round, which I did, but the flavour was just too mild and the meat wasn't tender enough to my liking (even after marinading in soy and lime juice). We don't eat a lot of beef, so when I have it it's gotta have the right flavour. Having sharp, aged white cheddar and corn tortillas, everything came together wonderfully. There were tons leftover and made for great next day burritos.