So tacos are a lot like ramen noodles in that you can stay very minimalist or add as many bells and whistles as you want as long as you get the basics right. I have a couple of points to make about cooking Mexican. First, all you really need for seasoning is salt, chili powder, and cumin because all the rest of the flavors come from fresh vegetables and herbs. Second, just like Italian cuisine, Mexican cuisine gets attacked by Wisconsin as soon as it crosses the border and is smothered in cheese. Authentic Mexican and Italian dishes aren’t nearly as cheese heavy as their americanized versions. That said, tacos are super easy weeknight meals now that every grocery offers all the ingredients you need. Choose your tortillas, choose your protein, pick up some store prepped pico de gallo and some sour cream and you are good to go. The store made pico has gotten better and better. Look for containers with the least liquid in the bottom for the freshest product. And now you can buy flavored sour creams at most stores as well. So for me the size of the shrimp and the weather determines how I will cook my tacos. Larger shrimp and nice weather moves everything to the grill. Skewer and season the shrimp, toss on the grill, toast the tortillas on the grill as well and maybe add some fresh corn. Now you can cheat with packaged taco seasonings if you have one you really like, or dial it in yourself with the salt, chili powder and cumin I mentioned earlier. For the corn I put down some foil and a couple of pats of butter for each ear then season the corn pretty heavily before wrapping it and throwing it on the grill or in the oven. Leave yourself about fifteen minutes either way to get a little char going. Some char releases even more of the corn’s sweetness. Some folks like to smear the corn with sour cream after it comes off the grill or out of the oven and then dust it with cotija cheese and call it street corn. Whatever floats your boat. Smaller shrimp and nasty weather have me moving inside to the stove top to saute the shrimp in a little butter or garlic olive oil and seasonings before putting the tacos together. The one thing the store bought pico is always light on is cilantro, so if you want to dress the tacos up a bit, that’s the place to start. Fresh jalapenos, serranos, and poblanos are available almost everywhere as well. Now you can go beer or margaritas with your tacos if you want, but I prefer to hunt down a bottle or two of Mexican Coca-Cola made with real sugar. Far superior to what we make here in the states.Â