For those of us with kids back in school, pupusas, burritos and carnitas are some of the best meals we (including some of the kids) can make in a minute. But we’ve also got all the fixings you need to make gazpacho, ceviche, carne asada and more for the civilized days to come.

Delmy’s frozen bean and cheese pupusas come three to a pack and include sides of salsa and cortido (fermented cabbage slaw.) I like to pile salsa, cortido, avocado, a fried egg, and a drizzle of El Salvadorean crema on top, which we are selling as well. 

Burritos La Palma’s Zacatecan-style burritos are wrapped in Mejorado’s prized flour tortillas and filled with either refried beans and Chihuahua cheese, shredded beef birria or con todos (all three fillings.) They come four to a pack with a side of salsa roja. They will be made fresh for us, but freeze well (even the salsa.) Jonathan Gold once referred to these birria burritos as one of the "finest bites in all of LA."  

Carnitas are back! We cook pork shoulders for hours, shred, and cryovac pack it so all you need to do is reheat and crisp it in a pan. You can stuff your carnitas in Tehachapi grain project’s tender Sonora flour tortillas, or all-natural corn tortillas, made fresh for us on Wednesday morning by La Gloria Foods, a multigenerational tortilla dynasty that’s been a Boyle Heights institution for 67 years. You could also stuff your tortillas with El Mexicano brand Oaxaca cheese for quesadillas times.

Our raw provisions this week include whole free-range chickens, Peads and Barnetts’s chorizo, and skirt steaks from Wanderer Beef that’s pasture-raised and barley fed, that would make a mean carne asada. For seafood options we’ve got whole, head-on shrimp from TransparenSea, a sustainable shrimp farm right here in SoCal, and wild, local halibut. All of these would be great turned into tacos with our classic green tomatillo salsa, but we’ll also be packing the boxes with cilantro, avocado, fresh chilies, limes and cherry tomatoes and more corn so you can make ceviche, guacamole or corn salsa. We’re also selling Tutti Frutti’s heirloom tomatoes (and will provide recipes) so you can make gazpacho, a sweet pico de gallo or a cold tomato-chili water for your fish or shrimp. We’re also selling Two Peas in a Pod’s fresh coco shelling beans. These black beauties cook quickly and would make a great addition to a corn and tomato salad or seasonal variation on the usual rice and beans. 

You’ll need some tortilla chips to scoop it all up, so we are getting some “esquisitos chips” from La California, the closest tortilleria we could find. You can’t miss the murals at the corner of Cypress and Verdugo, and you can’t not appreciate the hand painted menu on the wall inside.

Mel is also making a batch of healthier horchata. Our version of this drink (made with blended rice, oat milk, cinnamon, dates and agave) will be reminiscent of the classic taco stand treat, but free of refined sugars and dairy. 

To finish your meals, we’re making Mexican pot de creme, jars of velvety chocolate-cinnamon pudding.

And from our friends at Forage, we’ve got a couple of refreshing, organic Portuguese wines to wash it all down: a chillable red and a new vintage pet nat rose.