Easy Recipe Ideas for Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is coming up in a couple of days, and for those of you who might be looking for some Latin American-themed recipes to make, I thought I'd provide some easy and affordable favorites from the archives here at Casual Kitchen:

Easy Appetizers:
Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips
Tapas-Style Potato Chips

Comfort Foods:
Black Beans and Rice
How to Make Burritos

Favorite Entrees:
Shrimp in Garlic Sauce (Camarones Ajillo)
Braised Pork in Guajillo Chile Sauce
Pernil: Puerto Rican-Style Roast Pork Shoulder
How to Make a Mole Sauce: Intense, Exotic and Surprisingly Easy to Make
Smoky Brazilian Black Bean Soup
Easy Sopa de Lima

And of course it wouldn't be a real Cinco de Mayo unless we included a few favorite libations:

Drink Recipes:
The Mojito
The Tequila Sunrise
The Acapulco

For those of you curious about the origins of the Cinco de Mayo holiday, it celebrates the Mexico's defeat of the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Needless to say, the French aren't quite so enthusiastic about this holiday, as this battle became the first of a record-breaking (and still active) streak of military defeats, ties and stalemates.

There's one other irony about this holiday that seems particularly fitting this year: the whole reason France invaded was to punish Mexico for defaulting on its national debt!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everybody!

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Catalan Mushroom Soup (Sopa de Bolets)
15 Creative Tips to Avoid Holiday Overeating
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1 comment:

thepassionatecook said...

i can't believe i didn't celebrate cinco de mayo this year - i used to live in mexico, so i really don't have an excuse! i did source a good recipe for tamarind margarits, though, which i shall make and divulge very soon!
love your collection of recipes!