CSA Week 8: July 4 (Tacos by Jesse)

Still hot.

Still no rain.

Still loaded up with zucchini and squash.

Still going away for the weekend to see a concert.

What’s new?

I’ll tell you what’s new – the veggies in my CSA! Onion + potatoes…

…and the skinniest celery you’ve ever seen!

Amy from Three Rivers had this to say about the celery:

Celery absolutely detests hot, dry weather, so we are having to harvest it before it is truly ready. The stalks are on the small side, but have a good taste, just a little tough. The leaves will look a little brown and dry, but the stalks are usually what most people will use anyway. Our celery would be excellent in your potato salads this week, just chop it into smaller pieces than you might usually. This celery would also be great for cooking!”

I enjoy celery just for munching but I had grand plans for the tomato and onion in the simplest of ways.

These tacos were created by my good friend Jesse. I met him exactly four years ago this, at the inaugural Rothbury Festival (now Electric Forest) in Western Michigan. We were both new to the concert meetup scene, arriving as strangers in a WalMart parking lot at 7 a.m. and leaving as close friends that spent their Fourth of July, 2008, guessing the color of fireworks because we were too exhausted to leave camp.

Jesse is from Portland, Oregon, and though many people wouldn’t choose to spend their summer vacation in the Midwest, he’s currently staying with us in St. Louis. Though I know he’s excited about seeing his three favorite bands in a 10-day span, I know he feels like a piece of his heart belongs here because of the great friends he’s met along the way, many of whom he met back in 2008, in a caravan of strangers meeting up for Rothbury.

To make the tacos, Jesse marinated a 2-pound flank steak in lime juice, onion, and cilantro. He then grilled it on high heat (with onion and cilantro piled on) and chopped into cubes for our taco base. While the grill was hot, he also heated our corn tortillas.

He also created a salsa using fresh, farmer’s market ingredients:

tomato, onion, cilantro, lime, jalapeno.

He added salsa verde, though he would have preferred tomatillos, and a splash of tequila. So simple yet probably the best salsa I’ve ever had. It left me craving more fresh tomatoes!

He whipped up an easy avocado crema using sour cream and avocado. I added a few toppings…it was the least I could do!

From there, we piled our corn tortillas as high as we could.

I went back for seconds, and ate the salsa for lunch the next day. These tacos were excellent and I tasted flavors I never thought I could make at home. Throw away that taco meat seasoning mix and yellow cheese – these tacos are the real thing!

Question: How do you like your tacos?