Taco Night

Hey guys!

So you’ve seen me talk about my love of tacos a few times on this blog- my fish tacos are a favorite to host dinner with friends and my pork tacos are the perfect slow-cooker treat. But I’ve never talked about my favorite taco spices or my favorite side dish to have when I’m having a taco night!

Believe it or not… it’s probably not the healthiest to eat just tacos. It’s not the worst, but it’s good to make a salad. My sister made us this corn salad last time we had taco night together and it was perfect. Unlike a lot of corn salads which have raw onion and/or garlic, this recipe has fresh and cooked elements which makes it a little special by my mind.

Corn Salad

1 Shallot

1 Jalapeno

2 Cups of Cooked Corn (thawed and drained if you’re using frozen)

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

3 or 4 Green Onions

Parsley

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

A sprinkle of chili powder

S&P

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup of crumbled feta (or cojita if you have access)

Optional: Sour cream or mayonnaise if you’d like a creamy salad

To make this salad, my sister chopped up the jalapeno, red pepper and shallot and lightly sauteed them in a pan with olive oil while assembling the rest of her ingredients in a bowl.

While the veggies saute, you add to a bowl your corn, sliced green onions, parsley (or cilantro), crumbled feta, cumin, paprika and chili powder. Once cooked, add your warm veggies to the bowl to lightly melt the feta, and squeeze an entire lime over the top. You’d taste at this point for if it needs salt and pepper, and then serve alongside your tacos!

Speaking of tacos… I am a huge fan of making my own spice blends for my taco meats! I like that doing so cuts out most of the unnecessary salts and colorants that you can find in packaged mixes. Here’s what I use to make my white fish (or shrimp) tacos:

1 tbs chili powder

1 tbs cumin

1tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp kosher salt (small grind, not large, or Maldon salt)

2 shakes chili flakes

cayenne to taste (I start with 2 dashes)

This will comfortably season 4 filets of fish or 20+ shrimp, I just make up a double batch and keep it in a bottle in my cupboard to use as I like. I’ll also use this with extra chili powder and extra cayenne with ground meats, so it’s quite versatile and worth the time to prepare if you like infusing these types of flavors into your meals often.

What do you serve alongside tacos? What’s your favorite drink to enjoy with tacos? Are you team beer, or team margaritas? Let me know in the comments below!