4 Unusual Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

Reader Contribution by Taylor Miller
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<p>The fifth of May, or Cinco de Mayo, is traditionally celebrated in the Mexican state of Puebla. It is a commemoration of Mexico’s defeat of French forces in its 1862 war toward gaining independence (not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, which is September 16).</p>
<p>The date has become a celebration of Mexican culture worldwide, often jubilated with traditional Mexican dishes, which feature some fun and flavorful herbs, and is a cherished part of my life as a Spanish-speaker and, let’s face it, as a future-crazy-Spanish-teacher!</p>
<p>To celebrate, I’ve gone and scanned the InterWebs to find four great, unusual recipes that my friends and I can enjoy using some of the herbs growing in my garden!</p>
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<br />
Photo by BenSpark/Courtesy Flickr<br />
<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/abennett96/”>http://www.flickr.com/photos/abennett96/</a>
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<strong>1.</strong> Cilantro is used often in Mexican dishes as the perfect tangy offset to its strong, spicy components. I planted my cilantro a little too early in the season, but it started coming back last week with a vengeance! </p>
<p>Try this recipe for <a href=”http://www.grouprecipes.com/5133/black-bean-salsa-with-cilantro.html” target=”_blank”>
<strong>Black Bean Salsa With Cilantro</strong>
</a>
<strong>,</strong> courtesy of <a href=”http://www.grouprecipes.com/” target=”_blank”>
<em>www.grouprecipes.com</em>
</a>.</p>
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<strong>2.</strong> Featuring a less common herb, epazote, these authentic Mayan tortillas are stuffed with a hard-boiled egg filling covered with a pumpkin-seed sauce. Sounds wild, right? I also discovered last fall while making a cheese plate for work, that the biting, spicy flavor of epazote tastes great sandwiching a slice of white cheese; I used Manchego.</p>
<p>Try this recipe for <a href=”http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/authenticfamilyrecipes/r/Papadzules.htm” target=”_blank”>
<strong>Papadzules</strong>
</a>
<strong>,</strong> courtesy of <a href=”http://www.about.com/” target=”_blank”>
<em>www.about.com</em>
</a>.  </p>
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<strong>3.</strong> An important dessert herb in Mexican cooking is what is known regionally as la hierba buena (yerba buena), which we often call wild spearmint, the perfect ingredient in a fabulous mojito, and a great companion to my party dishes.</p>
<p>Try this recipe for<strong>
</strong>
<a href=”http://stephscafe.blogspot.com/2008/06/mexican-mojito.html” target=”_blank”>
<strong>Mint Mojitos</strong>
</a>, courtesy of <em>
<a href=”http://www.stephscafe.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank”>www.stephscafe.blogspot.com</a>
</em>.      </p>
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<strong>4.</strong> I also found a strange dessert, that really has no mention of herbs, but sounded so fantastic I felt compelled to include it! To make it even tastier, add a bit of chocolate mint to the recipe to give it that extra herbal kick.</p>
<p>Try this recipe for <a href=”http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/chocolatebananaburito.htm” target=”_blank”>
<strong>Chocolate Banana Burritos</strong>
</a>
<strong>,</strong> courtesy of <a href=”http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/” target=”_blank”>
<em>www.gourmetsleuth.com</em>
</a>
<em>.</em>
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<p>Wow, yum. Stomach pangs. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go eat. But, in the mean time, if you’ve got a gardening question, I’ve got your answer! <strong>Shoot an email over to</strong>
<a href=”mailto:tmiller@ogdenpubs.com”>
<strong>tmiller@ogdenpubs.com</strong>
</a>
<strong>, and I’ll try to answer it on the site!</strong>
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  • Published on May 4, 2009
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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