No matter whether it was taco salad or, God forbid, anything with beans, Mexican food on the school lunch menu meant that I’d be brown bagging it. Childhood trips to Bar J’s (RIP) and Don Pablo’s didn’t do much except cement cheese quesadillas as my order for the next decade. You could find cars full of my high school classmates in the Taco Bell drive-thru after school, but not me. I’ve just never been a huge fan of rice, beans or those sugar-sprinkled packing materials that Taco Bell calls cinnamon twists.

Enter Little Donkey and El Barrio. Oh how I miss my two Birmingham eateries for fresh and flavorful Mexican food. These two spots made me realize there’s more to Mexican than refried beans slopped on a plate, Dos Equis and FourthMeal late night eats. So I sipped a grapefruit margarita and ordered a goat cheese quesadilla at El Barrio. And elote, horchata and fried chicken at Little Donkey, falling in love with the unique combinations. Call it hipster Mexican food if you want. I’m all about adding plantains, pumpkin seeds or pineapple, making the staples on most menus the farm-to-table offerings of my dreams.

Inspired by the two places I miss back in Alabama and my new love for tacos (yes, I know I’m late to that bandwagon), I combined several recipes for a meal full of all the fresh flavors I’d grown to love. First I took four of my farmers’ market peaches and made a peach salsa from Truly Mexican. I used just the cabbage slaw from a fish taco recipe and stirred together a pitcher of horchata. Torn rotisserie chicken, avocado slices and sour cream rounded off my own taco bar.