Summer is in full swing and it’s officially time to light the grill. Once you are done with Fourth of July festivities and are sick of hamburgers and hot dogs, I suggest having a taco party. Everyone loves tacos! You can prepare nearly everything ahead of time and grill the meat and heat the tortillas on the grill right before serving.

I like to make a variety of salsas, along with a couple of different types of tacos. Here I provide the recipes for beer-marinated skirt steak tacos served with a deliciously smoky roasted tomato and chipotle salsa. The recipes are adapted from Bon Appetit magazine.

In addition to the steak tacos, it is a good idea to provide a vegetarian option, such as poblano, corn, and mushroom tacos with goat cheese and roasted tomatillo salsa.

The third salsa in this trio is a standard, yet fresh and delicious, salsa fresca, also known as pico de gallo.

You can, of course, use any of these salsas with either type of taco. I also suggest whipping up a quick guacamole. If you already have salsa fresca prepared, you can mix a bit of this with finely chopped avocado for a really easy preparation.

I recommend doubling the salsa and meat recipes if you are hosting more than 5-6 people, and buying a family pack of tortillas so that you have enough for everyone.

Make sure to serve tortilla chips, margaritas, and plenty of Mexican beer, such as Corona or Modelo. The best margarita recipe, in my opinion, is a simple preparation from Serious Eats. Please avoid margarita mix!! I also love a paloma (a grapefruit soda and tequila cocktail) with my Mexican food.

Ingredients

Beer-Marinated Steak Tacos

1 lb	skirt, flank, or NY strip steak, cut into 6 inch pieces
1 can	pale lager, such as Tecate, Modelo, or Corona (12 oz)
1 Tbs	fresh lime juice
1 tsp	kosher salt
¼ tsp	freshly ground black pepper
	corn or flour tortillas, for serving
	chopped avocado, for serving
	roasted tomato and chipotle salsa (recipe below) for serving

Roasted Tomato and Chipotle Salsa

2	large plum tomatoes, cored and halved lengthwise
2	garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled
1 Tbs	olive oil
¼	medium onion, chopped
1	chipotle chile in adobo, from a can
3 Tbs	fresh lime juice
3 Tbs	chopped fresh cilantro
	salt

Poblano, Corn, and Mushroom Tacos with Goat Cheese

2	poblano peppers
2	ears of corn, shucked
1 lb	mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
½	red onion, sliced (optional)
1 Tbs	vegetable or olive oil
	salt
	freshly ground black pepper
	goat cheese, for serving
	corn or flour tortillas, for serving

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 lb	tomatillos (about 5 medium)
3	cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled
1	serrano pepper
½ tsp	salt
1 tsp	sugar
2 Tbs	coarsely chopped cilantro

Salsa Fresca

2	medium tomatoes
¼	white onion
1	jalapeño
2 Tbs	coarsely chopped cilantro
1	lime, juiced
	salt

Preparation

The best way to time this is to get the meat marinating first. While the steak marinates, prepare each of the salsas. Right before grilling the meat, prepare the poblano, corn and mushroom filling for the vegetarian tacos and keep warm while grilling the meat.

Beer-Marinated Steak Tacos

1. Combine steak, beer, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a resealable plastic bag. Seal and chill for 3 hours.
2. Heat grill to medium-high. Remove steak from marinade and grill until outside is charred, approximately 3 minutes per side for medium-rare.
3. Remove steak from grill and allow it to rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes.
4. Cut steak into bite-size pieces.
5. Grill tortillas until soft and beginning to brown, about 30 seconds per side.
6. Assemble tacos by adding steak, salsa, and avocado slices to tortillas.
7. Serve immediately.

Roasted Tomato and Chipotle Salsa

1. Cover broiler pan with aluminum foil and preheat broiler for 5-10 minutes.
2. Place halved tomatoes, skin side up, on foil, along with garlic cloves. Broil tomatoes and garlic for 10 minutes, until skin is charred.
3. Remove tomatoes and garlic from broiler and let cool. Squeeze garlic out of skins and discard charred skins.
4. In a small sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion to the pan and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. In a food processor, combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, chipotle, and lime juice. Process until smooth.
6. Transfer to a bowl. Add salt to taste (approximately ½ tsp) and mix chopped cilantro into salsa.

Poblano, Corn, and Mushroom Tacos with Goat Cheese

1. Cover broiler pan with aluminum foil and preheat broiler for 5-10 minutes.
2. Remove stems from poblano peppers and cut in half lengthwise. Remove membranes and seeds.
3. Place peppers, skin side up, on broiler pan. Broil peppers for 10 minutes, until skins are blackened and charred throughout.
4. Remove foil with peppers from broiler and make a packet to seal foil with peppers inside. Allow peppers to steam for 5-10 minutes.
5. After peppers have cooled, remove skins and chop peppers into ½ inch dice.
6. Cut corn kernels from the cob.
7. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high. Add mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring often, until both are soft and cooked through, approximately 5 minutes.
8. Add corn to pan and sauté for a few minutes, until corn is cooked.
9. Add chopped poblano peppers and stir over heat for about a minute, until peppers are heated through.
10. Season vegetable mixture with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
11. Heat tortillas, fill with vegetable mixture, and garnish with crumbles of goat cheese and salsa of your choice (I recommend tomatillo, recipe below).
12. Eat immediately, while tortillas are hot!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1. Place aluminum foil on broiler pan and heat broiler.
2. Peel husks from tomatillos, rinse, and cut in half.
3. Cut serrano pepper in half and scrape out seeds and membranes.
4. Place tomatillos and serranos on foil in broiler, skin side up, along with garlic cloves. Broil for 10 minutes or until skins are blackened.
5. Remove from broiler and allow to cool.
6. Peel garlic.
7. Place tomatillos, serrano pepper, and garlic in a food processor and process until smooth.
8. Mix in salt and sugar. Taste and adjust with more salt or sugar if necessary.
9. Remove salsa from food processor and transfer to a small bowl. Mix chopped cilantro into salsa.

Salsa Fresca

1. Core tomatoes and slice into ¼ inch slices lengthwise. Finely chop slices to approximately ¼ inch dice.
2. Chop onion to approximately ¼ inch dice.
3. Slice stem from jalapeño and slice in half lengthwise. Remove white membranes and seeds and discard. Finely dice jalapeño.
4. Combine tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, 1 Tbs lime juice, and approximately ½ tsp salt in a medium-size bowl.
5. Mix ingredients and taste for salt and lime juice, adding more as necessary to balance salt and sour flavors.