Last year, I spent a month in Mexico while researching my upcoming novel, Groundswell. I absolutely fell in LOVE with the cuisine and discovered that it’s not just tacos and loads of melted cheese (not that I don’t love tacos and melted cheese). Mexican food can be light and fresh, like this recipe for Snapper Veracruzana, fish cooked in a spicy tomato sauce with capers and olives. Serve it over rice, a side of guacamole, and pink grapefruit margaritas, and you’ve got yourself a healthy and delicious Cinco de Mayo feast.

Snapper Veracruzana

INGREDIENTS:

• 1∕4 cup olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 jalapeños, seeded and minced
• 1∕2 cup dry white wine
• One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1∕4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 1 cup large green olives, pits removed and coarsely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Eight 4-ounce red snapper fillets
• Cilantro sprigs and lime wedges, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, garlic, and jalapeños.
3. Sauté until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the white wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
5. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, parsley, capers, olives, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
6. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Season each side of the fish with salt and pepper.
8. Place each fillet on the sauce and use a spoon to cover the fish with sauce.
9. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the fish is opaque.
10. Place the fish on a serving platter and spoon sauce over each fillet.
11. Remove the bay leaves.
12. Serve garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

Guacamole

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 to 1 serrano pepper, stemmed (depending on desired spiciness)
• 4 avocados
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• Tortilla chips, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a food processor, pulse garlic and serrano until finely diced.
2. Add avocados, lime juice, salt, and pepper and blend until desired consistency.
3. Add cilantro and pulse until combined.
4. Stir in tomato by hand.
5. Serve with tortilla chips.

Pink Grapefruit Margaritas

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 limes, cut into wedges
• Kosher salt, in a shallow dish, for rimming the glass
• 1 cup ruby red grapefruit juice (fresh or store-bought)
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
• 2 cups triple sec
• 2 cups good-quality silver tequila
• Ice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rub the outside rim of each margarita glass with one of the lime wedges.
2. Press the top of each glass in the kosher salt to coat the rim.
3. Combine the grapefruit juice, sugar, triple sec, and tequila in a pitcher.
4. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
5. Serve on the rocks, or blend with ice for frozen.
6. Garnish with a lime wedge.