Lag B’Omer Bar-B-Que: Tex-Mex Style!

Lag B’Omer is just around the corner, and that means bar-b-que time! Hailing originally from South Texas (San Antonio, to be exact), I never need an excuse to include Tex-Mex in my plans. Mexican food is all about the toppings. Think meat or bean and cheese tacos: a tortilla stuffed with guacamole, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes. Tex-Mex burgers are no different. Below you will find 3 classic toppings to pile onto your Lag B’Omer Tex-Mex burger:

From left to right: Pico de gallo, guacamole and grilled peppers.

Grilled Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1 large red pepper
• 1 large yellow pepper
• 1 medium green pepper
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Slice peppers lengthwise. Remove stem and seeds and clean thoroughly. Cut peppers in half again. Slice into ¼” strips.

Put oil in frying pan and heat on high for about 1 minute so oil gets hot. Turn down heat to medium-high and add the peppers. Stir fry until tender, about 5-10 minutes, depending how much crunchiness you want in the peppers.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 2 large Haas avocados*
• 1 Tbsp. red salsa
• ½ lime
• ½ tsp. salt

Slice avocados in half and remove pit. Scoop out the pulp and put in a bowl. Mash with a fork until smooth. Add salsa, salt, and squeeze in the juice of the lime. Mix thoroughly.

*Avocados should be a dark green and give a bit when you squeeze them.

Pico de Gallo (pron. Peek-o de guy-o)

Pico de gallo, in Spanish “beak of the rooster,” is a popular Mexican salsa. It is very easy to make and quite delicious. It’s a great topping for chips, chicken, meats, fish and, of course, Tex-Mex Lag B’Omer burgers!

Ingredients:

• 5 ripe tomatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup cilantro
• 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and stem removed*
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper

Finely chop the tomatoes, onion and jalapenos and put in a bowl. On a cutting board, place cilantro. Cut off stems, chop and add to bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the lime. Add salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

*When handling jalapenos or any hot peppers, make sure you wear gloves

Make that Burger!

Now that the toppings are done, here’s what you do:

• Get out a bun (preferably whole wheat) and slather on salsa
• Spread on some guacamole
• Spoon on some pico de gallo
• Slap on that burger
• Add the peppers to the burger
• Carefully put the bun on top
• Now dig in and enjoy!!!

Happy Lag B’Omer!