Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Recipes

It's fiesta time! Here's a little roundup of some of my favorite Mexican-inspired recipes for Cinco de Mayo! 

Having a Cinco de Mayo brunch? Serve Baked Tortilla Cup Huevos Rancheros and these awesome Black Bean and Chorizo Egg Tortas!

Every fiesta needs BEBIDAS! Put out a bucket of Mexican beers, Jarrito & Tequila To-Gos, and of course, whip up a batch of Coconut Margaritas! 

For snacks, put out a big bag of tortilla chips (my favorite are Juanita's!), some Totally Grilled Guac, and some cheesy Aperitivo de Frijol!

Taco bar? Be sure to add this spicy/tangy shredded beef for Machaca tacos! 

It turns out, I don't have any Mexican dessert recipes on the blog! Crazy! You know what else is crazy? I've never had tres leches cake. Like, ever. Never even one bite. I'm thinking of changing that real soon, and here are a few contenders:

• Shutterbean: Coconut Tres Leches Cake 
• The Candid Appetite: Classic Tres Leches Cake
• Chez Us: Coconut & Lime Three Milk Cake
• How Sweet Eats: Banana Bread Tres Leches Cake 

Peanut Butter Date Shakes

I feel like I've been really boring on here lately. I'm sorry! I've made and eaten plenty of tasty things this month, but most of them are quick little salads, soups, or thrown together bowl-meals, none of which are particularly blog worthy. 


I do have some more donuts to share with you soon, but I need to make them again for photos… and I have a cold (seriously!? As if I wasn't already sick for the first two months of the year…). I don't want to germ-up a bunch of donuts that other people are going to eat, and I certainly don't need 12 amazingly delicious donuts sitting around my house. I will eat every single one. Donut will power is not a thing. It doesn't exist. So, I want to be sure I can safely share with friends before I make them again. Because coconut. And ginger glaze. See what I'm saying about will power? 

In addition to quick little dinners, I've been using my Vitamix like crazy. I know they're expensive, but guys… I'm telling you… life changing! I used to make smoothies like once a month. My old blender sucked so bad, it took forever to blend everything up, and was just an all-around pain in the ass to use. So I saved up my credit card points, and used them to get a Vitamix. Now I blend things almost daily! Sometimes twice daily. Even thrice daily, on occasion. Fruit & veggie smoothies, creamy soups, nut milks and butters, hummus, bean dip, sauces. All thing things. I highly recommend a high-powered blender (for a more affordable option, my parents have a Ninja, and love it). 

My favorite treat lately has been this peanut butter date shake. It tastes milkshakey, but is full of good for you stuff like peanut butter, banana, almond milk, dates, and oats. I won't lie and say this is a low calorie shake, because it's not. But everything in it is natural and healthy-like, and it's a major protein boost. It's quick and easy to make, so perfect before early morning workouts. Just kidding… I don't work out in the mornings, who do you think I am? I wish I was a morning person, but no matter how hard I try, it just doesn't happen. I'm pretty sure my REM sleep kicks in at 8AM. So instead I have this shake as an afternoon snack, dessert, or late-morning breakfast.  

Peanut Butter Date Shake

Makes 1 big shake, 2 small ones

3 pitted dates (I used the large medjool dates. If you like it less sweet, start with 2, and the 3rd as needed)

1 banana (the riper it is, the more you'll taste it--I go for less ripe)

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (plus more if needed)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1 overflowing cup of ice

Depending on your blender, you may need longer blending times. I add everything except the ice to the blender, and blend until it's all smooth (the dates take awhile). Then, since the long blending time has likely warmed up the mixture, I add my ice last, and blend until smooth. Taste test as you go. Add more peanut butter or vanilla if you want, or more almond milk if you like a runnier shake. Sometimes I also add toasted coconut!

Note: This post is in no way affiliated with Vitamix, I just happen to be obsessed with mine, and all opinions are my own. 

Sesame Sriracha Egg Salad

Here's my second egg salad experiment. And, I must say… this one rocks. It rawks, even. 

Before we get to the goodness of this recipe, can I tell you something sort of embarrassing? So, I've had lower back pain on and off for years, and recently, as I've amped up my outdoor running for spring, my backs been killing me. So I went to a sports rehab doc, and guess what? My glutes aren't doing their job, forcing all the effort on my lower back. Basically, in a nutshell, my butt muscles aren't working right. So now, in order to retrain my muscles to do what they're supposed to do, I have four weeks of PT. To relearn how to walk. My butt is broken.

In other news… Sesame Sriracha Egg Salad! After my deconstructed egg salad, I was brave enough to try a mixed up version with lots of fun flavors. This has sesame oil, soy sauce, and sriracha, and the flavor totally kills. So, so good. I seriously want to eat this every day. Egg salad convert!

Sesame Sriracha Egg Salad

This is the 4-egg version, which basically made two overloaded baguette slices. Double the recipe for more, or cut in half for less.  

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Sriracha

2 teaspoons mayonaise

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4 hardboiled eggs

Salt & pepper 

Baguette slices

Micro greens or spring greens

Extra Sriracha

Black sesame seeds

Whisk together soy sauce, Sriracha, mayo, and sesame oil. Chop eggs in fairly small pieces, add to mayo mixture, and gently toss to combine. Salt & pepper to taste. Top baguette slices with greens, a big scoop of egg salad, an extra squirt of Sriracha, and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds. 

Egg Salad No. 1

This is the time of year where all my online feeds fill up with egg salad sandwiches. Which I hate. Well, used to hate.

I’ve mentioned here before that my whole life I had a major hate-hate relationship with eggs, until about five years ago. Now it’s sort of love-hate. I eat a ton of eggs. Love ‘em over medium, baked, scrambled, and sometimes even hardboiled. But I still have a few weird leftover hang-ups from my egg hating days. Like, I don’t want to eat eggs that other people prepare. And I don’t like watching other people eat eggs. And until this week, I hated egg salad sandwiches.

My egg salad memories from childhood are squishy and smelly. Amanda loved the things, and would really disgustingly eat them in front of me since she knew it grossed me out. Since egg salad is all over the place around Easter, I started a little convo about it on Facebook. And, kind of to my surprise, it turned out that everyone loves egg salad sandwiches.

You guys also told me on the 'book that you like dill and green olives in your egg salad. I decided to work with that. But I was still a little nervous, picturing a smelly, mushy mound of squishy egg salad, so I decided to go the deconstructed route: baguette slices with tangy green olive and mustard tapenade, micro greens, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and dilly mayo. 

GUYS! This is actually good. Really good! Hey egg salad, I’m not afraid of you anymore! You hear that? I’m not afraid of you! Sorry, quick Home Alone tangent. Anyway, my first foray into egg salad gave me enough courage to try a mixed up version… today you get deconstructed, and later we’re doing a little somethin’ somethin’ with everyone’s favorite bright red hot sauce. Stay tuned for that one!

Deconstructed Egg Salad Sandwiches

1/2 cup mayo 

2 tablespoons fresh dill

Sea salt

1.5 cups green olives

2 teaspoons grainy dijon mustard

Hardboiled eggs

Baguette slices

Micro greens (I like the Trader Joe's micro greens, but sprouts or spring greens work too)

Dill fronds
Sliced chives

Salt & pepper

Add mayo, dill, and a pinch of salt to blender, and blend until combined. Taste, and add more dill or salt as needed. Scoop into a dish. Once blender is thoroughly scraped out, add olives and mustard, and blend until combined and chunky, but not totally pureed. Scoop into a separate dish. 

For each baguette slice, spread a bit of the mustard tapenade, add a handful of micro greens, sprouts, or other greens, a layer of thinly sliced hard boiled eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper, a drizzle of the mayo (I add mine to a ziplock baggie with the corner cut out to pipe), chives, and a bit of fresh dill. Make as many as your heart desires! 

Carrot Cake Smoothies

I had this recipe ready for you guys earlier this week, but decided it was probably a bad idea to post it on April Fool’s day. Then you’d be all like “Oh, it’s not actually a carrot cake smoothie, its cake…right?” I’m sorry. It’s really a smoothie, no jokes here. There is no cake.

But, also not a joke: this smoothie is really good! And it’s good for you! And, if you’re gonna be filling your Easter keister up with a ton of ham, potatoes, deviled eggs, Cadbury cream eggs, homemade ricotta, coconut cakes, lemon pies, and other pastel-inspired goodies (like I will), then a pre-feast smoothie might be in order.

This smoothie has all the makings of a good carrot cake, minus the cream cheese frosting, butter, eggs, and cake parts. Carrots, coconut, nuts, and spices get all whirled up in your blender with other good and creamy things like coconut milk, bananas, and dates. It’s almost a carrot cake shake, rather than smoothie.

If you’re feeling really festive, you can top it all off with toasted coconut and chopped nuts. And also… that remaining coconut milk? Go ahead and whip that into a smooth and fluffy whipped cream. It’s really like the icing on the cake…or the smoothie shake, if ya know what I’m sayin’.

Carrot Cake Smoothies

Serves 2

5 medium-large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup coconut milk (if you're using remaining for whipped cream, be sure to use a full fat version)

2 large dates, pitted

1/2 large banana

1/4 cup almonds or other nuts

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of fresh nutmeg and ground cloves

2 cups of ice

Toppings:

Toasted coconut

Chopped nuts

Whipped coconut cream

Place everything except ice and toppings in blender, and blend until smooth. Add ice, and blend until smooth. Pour into smoothie glasses or jars, and serve with toppings.