TacoProject

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quick & easy

Horchata: The Taco Night Drink

Prep (min)

10

Cook (min)

0

Total

8 hrs (soaking)

Serves

6 glasses

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

1

Mexican horchata is an agua fresca made from rice and cinnamon. It descends from the Spanish horchata de chufa of Valencia, which uses tiger nuts. In Mexico, rice took over, and the result is the creamy drink that tames even salsa de árbol.

  • 1 cup long-grain white rice
  • 1 cinnamon stick (canela), broken up
  • 5 cups water, divided
  • 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
  • 1 tsp vanilla, optional splash of milk
  1. Soak rice and cinnamon in 2 cups hot water overnight.
  2. Blend until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
  3. Strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.
  4. Stir in the remaining 3 cups water, sugar and vanilla. Serve over lots of ice.

Quick Vegan Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

Prep (min)

10

Cook (min)

20

Total

30 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

1

🥄 Pairs well with: Pico de Gallo, Salsa de Cacahuate

Roasted sweet potato and smoky black beans are a combination that punches way above its weight. This is our go-to when it is 6:30 and nobody has a plan.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, salt
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 1 avocado (or a bowl of guacamole), pickled red onion, cilantro, lime

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Toss sweet potatoes with oil and spices and roast 20 minutes.
  2. Add the beans to the pan, stir, and roast 5 more minutes.
  3. Fill warm tortillas and top with avocado, pickled onion, cilantro and lime.
PrepCookTotal
5 minutes25 minutes30 minutes

Three Essential Salsas: Verde, Roja and Pico de Gallo

Every great taquería has a salsa bar, and every great home cook has a few salsas in rotation. These three cover bright, smoky and fresh, and each takes less than 20 minutes.

A bowl of salsa verde
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. JED / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Salsa Verde

  • 1 lb tomatillos, husked
  • 1 to 2 serranos
  • 1/4 white onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • Salt and lime

Boil or broil tomatillos, chiles, onion and garlic until soft and olive-colored. Blend with cilantro and salt. Tangy and perfect on carnitas.

Salsa Roja

  • 4 Roma tomatoes
  • 3 chiles de árbol
  • 2 guajillos
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 onion
  • Salt

Char the tomatoes, onion and garlic on a comal; toast the chiles briefly. Blend with a splash of water and salt. Toasty, deep, great on al pastor.

Pico de Gallo

  • 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 1 jalapeño, minced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Salt

Chop everything, toss with lime and salt, rest 10 minutes and drain the excess liquid. Fresh crunch for fish tacos.

Heat guide

SalsaHeatBest with
VerdeMediumCarnitas, eggs, chicken
RojaMedium-hotAl pastor, carne asada
Pico de galloMildFish tacos, anything grilled

Browse more in Salsas & Toppings.