A Gluten Free Cinco de Mayo! | Curry Girls Kitchen

Heck Ya! I’m sharing Cinco de Mayo party ideas! And BTW no one will ever know if you don’t say anything! Just serve it up and let the “yums” happen!

But first let me share how much we fricken LOVE Southwest and Mexican food and why!

I devoted an entire chapter in Damn Good Gluten Free called Taco Tuesdays. My kids actually thought I made up Taco Tuesdays! LOL

WHY do we love Mexican food so much? BECAUSE it was the only cuisine that catered to our gluten free lifestyle! It was the only kind of restaurants we never had an issue with or the eye rolling. It was easy. Once I started creating family meals for the kids, I got more and more invested in making Southwest and Mexican cuisine authentic. Truth be told, the real magic came from working in restaurants and asking my house helpers! They’d share the secrets of their family recipes with me and showed me how to make dishes taste amazingly flavorful!

In Damn Good Gluten Free my Lifestyle and recipe cookbook, there are so many Mexican culture style recipes that are homeruns.

If I had to choose my top three main dish recipes, my first go to would be Crispy Tacos using the ground chicken taco filling. It was the easiest, quickest and most loved by the family when all the kids lived at home. It was also so easy during late soccer practices I could make the taco filling and have it ready for them when they got home. Today, all in their 30’s, they all make this dish! It’s also versatile in that if you are or have a vegan in the family you can swap the meat and use either a plant-based crumble or my veggie version for the filling.

My second favorite taco recipe that people love are the enchiladas. Who doesn’t love a one-pot anything! Enchiladas are simple to prepare, customizable and can be made ahead, even frozen and saved for another day. You can make them with all veggies, try a combo of mushrooms, cauliflower and zucchini, or use whatever meat or meat alternative as the filling. Try our green enchilada recipe too!

And last Fajitas! This is a super crowd pleaser! It can feed a lot of people, even using one pre-made store bought roasted chicken! Here’s where this dish shines with big bold flavor… the spices and condiments are the magic ingredients that are the key in making this dish so darn flavorful! You can also make this using all veggies like lions’ mane or portabella mushrooms!

What about the sides?

Yellow Rice is a staple in our house. It’s not traditional Mexican rice but it was what the kids grew up with and loved. The best was they had no clue that it was actually so good for them! The golden yellow comes from curcumin also known as Turmeric. This anti-inflammatory spice has properties that are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients which protect us and help fight free radicals. Adding turmeric into recipes helps to reduce inflammation and was perfect for the girls who were all athletes and would come home after soccer practice aching and sore! I served Yellow Rice with all the main Tuesday Taco dishes with sour cream on the side.

The other staple side dish on Taco Tuesday’s was Zucchini Corn Hash! Even when summer and fall was over and the fresh corn was gone, we still make this dish with or without the sweet organic corn. You can play around with this hash and add black beans or mushrooms, even fresh peas in the Spring! But do add the pat of goat butter to give it a cheesy rich flavor!

If you’re having a party, try our a delicious Strawberry Margarita. Meg’s creation for a tasty cocktail is perfectly seasonal and delicious for this time of year! Another fun margarita is our Mango Raspberry Infused Margarita! This one is infused with rhubarb and honey! Ole!

If you missed Peg’s recent Instagram LIVE with our dear friend Kate Ramos, author of Plant Powered Mexican chef extraordinaire and blogger of Hola Jalapeno! It’s a must see!

Together we shared our love of Mexican cuisine. Kate helps Pegs get comfortable making true Mexican Rice in under 20 minutes in an Insta-Pot. And we made a delicious mostly plant-based Mexican Bowl for Cinco de Mayo. Take a look either on YouTube, Instagram or FB replays!

Some of our favorite Mexican and Southwest Seasonings and Blends and Pegs favorite chips to dip in our guacamole and salsa!