It's National Taco Day, so why not celebrate? Everyone loves tacos. They're fun and easy to make. Gather the family around the table or have an impromptu, casual taco party. Everyone makes their own - What's not to love? (Maybe you can even get everyone to help clean up as well!)

When making tacos, get adventurous.

Go beyond the ground beef and shredded cheese and lettuce... Create culinary delights by offering shrimp, fish, skirt steak, chorizo,and portobello mushrooms. Don't be afraid to offer several meat variations - you can always use the leftovers in another recipe. Vary up the cheese selections with dishes of queso blanco, goat cheese, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan in addition to your cheddar cheese. Switch up your salsas - Offer salsa verde, chimichurri, pico de gallo, guacamole and switch out your sour cream for Greek yogurt which is thicker and better for you. Replace your traditional tomatoes, shredded lettuce and black beans with a corn and bean salad, chopped onions, olives, diced peppers, cilantro, baby spinach leaves, arugula, mache, thinly sliced radishes, tomatillos, grilled vegetables such as peppers, onions, asparagus, and mushrooms. Offer a selection of soft and hard tacos, both wheat and corn. The smaller ones are more fun to work with and your guests can create several different types of tacos.

On a long table, counter or bar area, place your ingredients on plates and bowls starting with the meats, then the vegetables and then the cheeses. There's no need to follow any recipe, simply allow your guests to pick and choose their food items and encourage creativity!

To accompany the tacos you can offer your guests a variety of beer, sangrias, margaritas to make the dinner even more festive.

For a twist on the taco you can even create a Greek taco using hummus, feta, olives, cucumbers, lettuce and artichoke hearts. An Italian taco may resemble something like a thin crust pizza folded in half or an antipasto selection in a wheat tortilla shell. Why not try your hand at creating a sushi taco or one with Chinese flair like beef and broccoli. On National Taco Day, the possibilities are endless!

It's National Taco Day :: How to create the perfect taco bar