Cinco De Mayo Spread

Cinco De mayo is one of my favorite times to host a fun get together, simply because I love Mexican food and any chance to make guacamole is good in my book! Well, the 5th of May fell on a Wednesday this year. As you can tell by the title of this blog, not so conducive to our cooking strategy. So we decided to celebrate early, just the Mr. and me, with our own little fiesta.
On the menu:
-Annie's Island Chicken (ok, not so Mexican, but we wanted to use it for various recipes!)
-Black Bean and Corn salad
-Guacamole (yes!!!)
-Warm corn tortillas and all the fixings
-Lots of cerveza!

From this menu we were able to eat well throughout the week and use the chicken for tacos, fajitas and chicken salads.
Salud!
MM

Annie's island Chicken (from Annie's Eats)
Ingredients:
½ cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1½ tbsp. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2-4 chicken breasts

Process:
Combine all ingredients except chicken in a mixing bowl or large airtight plastic bag. Whisk or shake well until the marinade is well mixed. Add the chicken breasts to the bowl or plastic bag so that they are covered by the marinade. Press out all the excess air and seal the bag tightly. Refrigerate and marinate up to 10 hours.

When ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish and pour the excess marinade over them. Bake in the oven until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165° F, about 45 minutes (exact baking time will depend on the size of your chicken pieces.) Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. (We shredded several of ours to use for tacos that night).

The Johnson's Famous Guacamole (adapted from Mum Sue's recipe)

Ingredients:

1/4 red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2- 4 ripe Hass avocados (depends on how much Guac you want)
1 lime, juiced
2 to 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 ripe plum tomato, cored and diced
1/4 to 1/2 jalapeno (with seeds), minced

A dash or 2 of Worcestershire

Process:

There's really not much to it. Mass all the ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Taste and adjust seasoning. I like to make my guac a few hours ahead and let it sit in the fridge (well covered with saran wrap) so the flavors blend.

Black Bean and Corn salad
Ingredients:
1/2 red onion, diced
1 Hass avocado, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 ear of corn, boiled and kernels cut from cob
1 small handful of cilantro, chopped
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Process:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium glass bowl, tossing well. Combine lime zest and juice, 2 tbsp EVOO and cumin in a small bowl and whisk well. Pour liquid mixture over salad, tossing to combine. Sprinkle cilantro over top. Enjoy!

The Complete Feast!