There’s something to be said about a feast that serves a multi-fold purpose; a dinner abundant in plentiful offerings, as healthy as the host so wishes, a fabulous opportunity for uproarious music appropriate to the spicy theme, an event that pretty much guarantees a fantastic time by all.

The staples of a taco feast are fitting for the serving any time of year. A table spread of DIY tacos turns up the heat any chilly evening, and boosts the celebration of grand times any summer night.

This just begs the question: Who doesn’t love a fiesta?

Tacos can be relatively simple. Taco kits line store shelves with ease of price and total convenience, which include the hard or soft shells, seasoning and salsa.

Brown your favorite ground meat, toss in the seasoning while you bop to the Salsa Radio Pandora station, and you’re on your way.

A fiesta’s elaboration is then up to you. Here’s where loading kiddos up on veggies is almost a sure bet– a surefire bet, that is, when you count Tabasco sauce. Classics include some variety of lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese. You can then pump up the veggie volume by adding to the mix cucumbers, guacamole, pineapples and then some.

My brother-in-law once introduced pickles to the mix years ago, and this has been a standard in our household every since.

As summer blossoms and our garden does too, my husband and I often toss in fresh diced green beans, snowpeas, cilantro, carrot shavings, garlic scapes, anything that can be snagged from fridge or harvest.

The opportunities are endless. A fiesta’s a guaranteed sensation.

Taco nights used to be date night for my husband and me early in our marriage, paired with wine spritzers or margaritas. Today, these traditional meals have evolved, transformed into a weekly family favorite feast for which our children clap giddily.

And my husband and I still reach for that occasional margarita, if we can find them amid piles of salsa bowls and avocado. And yes, the chips.

There are just so many varieties to make our tots’ tastebuds tingle.

Beneath that crowd-pleasing Mexican flavor of spice and music, there’s a creative meal that works well on a budget that’s also heavily inundated with nutritious bites.

It’s taco night, done right.

Pass the guacamole, and be satisfied your kiddos are getting in good nutritional grub.

Ole!

— Michelle Cote is the art director of the Journal Tribune. She enjoys cooking, baking, and living room dance-offs with her husband, two boys and a dog. She can be contacted at mcote@journaltribune.com.