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Viva la Vida!
Bold Latin Flavors Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Latin Lover's Carne Asada With Orange, Olive and Red Onion Mojo
Green Olive Salsa
Cinco de Mayo Margarita

(Family Features) - When you say, "Viva la vida!" you're saying "Long live life!"
That's the feeling of fiesta — seize the day, be in the moment, enjoy yourself! Cinco de Mayo, the fifth of May, celebrates a famous Mexican battle for freedom and liberty, but you can make a fiesta of any occasion when you serve drinks and dishes with bold Latin flavors.

Shake things up with a Cinco de Mayo Margarita, in a glass authentically rimmed with delicately flaked kosher salt. In fact, you can make your taste buds salsa-dance every time you use this unique salt, a favorite of both restaurant and home chefs. Unlike regular table salt or other kinds of kosher salt, Diamond Crystal kosher salt crystals are hollowed out and pyramid-shaped, creating an undeniably unique texture that dissolves in a burst of smooth salt flavor. Arriba!

Get your mojo goin' with a luscious Latin sauce that's also a marinade for a classic fiesta dish, carne asada or grilled steak. Say "ole" to olives in Latin Lover's Carne Asada With Orange, Olive and Red Onion Mojo and to any dish that needs bold color and tantalizing taste, from sauces and salsas to salads and savories. Olives —' black or green, in cans or jars, pitted or not, from small to large, stuffed or sliced or whole —' offer a fiesta of flavors in one bite.

For more information, visit www.diamondcrystalsalt.com and www.lindsayolives.com.

Latin Lover's Carne Asada With Orange, Olive and Red Onion Mojo
Serves 4 to 6

2 pounds beef skirt or flank steak
4 oranges, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 cylindrical heads of romaine lettuce
1 (15-ounce) can hearts of palm, drained and chopped Orange, Olive and Red Onion Mojo
1/2 cup chopped Lindsay Large Black Ripe Pitted Olives
1/2 cup chopped Lindsay Spanish Stuffed Olives
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To make mojo, whisk together olives, orange and lime juices, onion, garlic, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Transfer half (about 1 3/4 cups) to resealable plastic bag. Add steak, seal and let marinate at room temperature 30 minutes. Reserve remaining mojo.
Prepare hot fire in grill.
Brush orange slices and romaine with some reserved mojo and grill, turning once, until slightly charred on all sides. Remove from grill.
Place steak on grill and grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once, for medium-rare. (Discard marinade.)
To serve, cut each head of romaine into pieces and arrange with hearts of palm on each plate. Serve steak and orange slices on the side and drizzle all with remaining mojo.

Adapted from Weeknight Grilling with the BBQ Queens by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig (Harvard Common Press, 2006).

Green Olive Salsa
Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup chopped Lindsay Spanish Stuffed Olives
2/3 cup chopped apples, such as Gala, McIntosh or Granny Smith
2 teaspoons lemon zest
3 teaspoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons chopped roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons chopped yellow peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
Diamond Crystal kosher salt and pepper to taste

In large bowl, mix ingredients together. Can be served with chips.

Cinco de Mayo Margarita
Makes 1 serving

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
3 ounces Sweet and Sour mix*
1 1/2 ounces tequila
3/4 ounce Triple Sec
Lime slices, to garnish

Rim margarita glass with fresh lime. Dip glass rim into kosher salt. Shake all liquid ingredients with ice. Strain over ice into salt-rimmed margarita glass. Serve with fresh lime slice and stir stick.

*Basic recipe is 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice to 1 teaspoon powdered sugar.

Courtesy of National Bartenders Association (www.bartender.org)

SOURCE: Cargill Lindsay Olives