Grilled Flank Steak Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

The main event. Juicy, meaty, charred and spicy flank steak tacos, held together by the grilled corn tortillas, crunchy and cool from the cilantro slaw. Slather it with salsa, gorge it with guacamole, soak it with sour cream. While you're at it, sneak some of your rice and beans in there, too. I love a very fat and greedy taco. The bigger, the better, unless....

Once, my little sister Mary Kate and I had a taco eating contest. I was 22 years old at the time, she was only 13. Anyone who knows Mary Kate knows that this pint sized little scrap can pack in grub like Nacho Libre. She deserves to be roly-poly, double chinned and plumpy-gordita; instead she wrangles all that food into her size 2 jeans and begs for dessert. To challenge her to an eat-a-thon was folly on my part, but I'd been out of the country for a year and she's so skinny that I must have forgotten. It was all I could do to keep up, so I made my tacos smaller and smaller. At the end of the night, the tally was seven and 1/2 tacos each. At least that's how it's remembered in the annals of family history. I was too full to do el math-o.

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Enjoy all of your food, especially the tacos. Make them as big and full as you want. No one is counting.

Coming Tomorrow: Dessert

Grilled Flank Steak Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Estimated Cost: $$10.00

1 -1 and 1/2 lb. flank steak

2 cloves garlic, minced

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup salsa

1 tablespoon oil

3 teaspoons chili powder
8-16 corn tortillas

1 (10 ounce) bag angel hair cole slaw mix

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

juice of one lime

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle steak on both sides with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Place steak in zip top bag. Add garlic, lime juice, salsa, oil, and chili powder. Zip up bag and massage mixture (from the outside of the bag) into meat. Let marinate for at least one hour and up to overnight. Grill steak, for about four minutes per side for medium. Let rest for five minutes. Slice on the bias. Meanwhile, grill tortillas and wrap in slightly moist dishcloth until serving time. For slaw: In a large bowl, combine slaw mix, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, divide meat slices and slaw between tortillas. (To be authentic, use two tortillas together.) Add cheese, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole as desired.

Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa

I used to think that you could only make good salsa in July and August, when tomatoes were at their juicy red best. The rest of the year I would mope at Mexican restaurants and wonder how come they had great salsa all year round. I reasoned that they imported fresh tomatoes at their peak from some well-guarded farm near the equator. Well, I wanted some of that secret stash too. So I started to snoop and ask questions. Finally a nice little lady cashier at one of my favorite southern California whole-in-the-wall taco stands filled me in. "Oh, honey... they're just canned tomatoes." When I finally got over my shock, I went home, fiddled around, and made 897 gallons and I haven't stopped making it since. Then I started blabbing my recipe all around town. It's been years and I still can't keep quiet. "Did you know you could make this great salsa at home..in the WINTER?" Not only is this salsa unbelievable on it's own, it's the base for countless Mexican dishes. I'm going to show you a few this week, so get started with this salsa recipe. Betcha can't wait for Cinco De Mayo. You can leave your salsa testimonials (and recipes!) in the comment section. STAY TUNED....TOMORROW IT'S CLASSIC RICE AND BEANS!!!

Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa

Estimated Cost: $2.00

A couple of notes: I'm making the salsa today with canned fire roasted tomatoes for a little extra smokiness. They are a bit pricey, so if smokiness isn't your thing , you can substitute plain canned diced tomatoes. The easiest way to make this is to get diced tomatoes with green chiles and you won't even have to add in a hot pepper.

1/4 medium white onion, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 hot chile pepper, such as serrano (you can use just a tiny bit if you don't like too much heat)

1 (14 ounce) can diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup cilantro, leaves and soft stems

juice of one lime

sea salt, to taste

Place the ingredients in the bowl of a blender or food process in the order listed. Process until smooth, or chunky, depending on preference. This salsa tastes best within the first two days it is made. After that, you can use it in cooked recipes for up to a week.