Grilling is the hallmark of outdoor dining enjoyment. Just about anything can be grilled and what better way to spend the warm days of summer with friends for some fresh tacos and a few laughs. Far from complicated, tacos are easy and quick so you can enjoy the evening reminiscing, enlivening the night with hilarious stories your friends won’t soon forget.

In this post I have included a few recipes for salsas that make these tacos delicious. If you have never heard of chismol, [pronounced “chimol”] it is a Honduran salsa of tomato, onion and bell pepper. This condiment will produce a tasty liqueur that is very fresh and pleasing to the palate.

Grilled Chipotle Chicken Recipe

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh

½ -7 ounce can chipotles in adobo sauce, sauce only

1/4 cup safflower oil

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 ½ Tablespoons fresh oregano, minced

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt

  1. In a mortar, grind up garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, black pepper and sea salt.
  2. Combine with the remaining ingredients and coat chicken. Marinate for 2 hours.
  3. Heat grill on medium-high and grill chicken pieces 4-6 minutes per side or until juices run clear.
  4. Allow chicken to rest off the grill for 5 minutes before cutting up.

This recipe is great as is, however, if you wanted to increase the heat, just add some of the chipotles to your liking. I wanted the lick of the flame to add flavor and not be masked by too much seasonings, especially salt.

Fire Roasted Poblano Corn Salsa Recipe

2 large ears of corn

1 large poblano pepper

Juice of 1 lime [approximately ¼ cup]

¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves

3 Tablespoon red onion, finely diced

2 Tablespoons jalapeno, finely diced

½ teaspoon sea salt

  1. Grill corn until cooked and has lots of grill marks. Set aside.
  2. Place poblano on the grill and char the skin until blackened. Place in a paper bag for 5 minutes to loosen skin.
  3. Cut poblano pepper in half and remove pit, seeds and stem. Scrape skin with a knife to remove.
  4. Dice Pepper and cut corn off the cob.
  5. Combine with remaining ingredients.

Chismol Recipe

4 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

Juice of 1 lime [approximately ¼ cup]

3 Tablespoons red bell pepper, diced

1 teaspoon sea salt

  1. Combine all of the salsa ingredients in a bowl and allow to macerate for 30 minutes.

*note: to seed tomatoes, cut off the tops and bottoms. Cut each tomato in half and with the knife cut out the seed cavity, discard and chop the tomatoes.

Taco Fixings

12 white corn tortillas

½ head of lettuce, finely shredded

Basmati rice & beans

Sour cream

For everything to come together at the right moment, prepare the fixings and salsas first, then grill the chicken and the tortillas just before serving and enjoy the good company. The perfect beverage is of course mojitos.