For 15 years, I’ve been telling people I don’t like tequila. 15 long years avoiding margaritas and Tequila Sunrise’s and Freshie’s (for my Hawaii folks :).  That now makes me very, very sad.  Recently I’ve realized that what I thought was a tequila aversion was actually a Triple Sec aversion.  Who knew??

Since moving to San Diego, I’ve been inspired to cook and consume more Mexican food.  With this same thought process, my husband has been inspired to research and consume more quality tequila (we make a good pair :).  Recently he was tasting a tequila on the rocks with a lime and offered me a sip.  I was blown away.  I actually liked it!  It tasted clean and refreshing with the Mexican food.  After all these years thinking I hated tequila, what I actually disliked was the Triple Sec used to make most margaritas.  Go figure.

So I set out to make a clean and light version of the beloved margarita.  I found a great recipe at Cookie + kate and tweaked it just slightly with ingredients I had on hand.  Amazing!  Try this the next time you are craving margaritas and let me know if you like it!

The Healthy Happy Hour Margarita

(serves two)

2-4 oz good quality tequila (depends how strong you would like your drink.  Chill the tequila in the freezer beforehand if you can)

1 large navel orange (do NOT substitute orange juice!  You need the freshly squeezed juice.)

2 limes

lots of ice

Directions: pour the tequila and the juice of the oranges and limes in a shaker.  Shake it up and pour over ice.  Feel free to salt the rim if you prefer.  You can also use grapefruit juice for something more tart…the possibilities are endless!