This Mexican-style main dish is the perfect way to start your Memorial Day festivities.

When shopping for the ingredients for this recipe, remember that skirt steak is best purchased in long strips rather than rolled up. This particular cut of beef is used frequently in Latin cooking. It is inexpensive with an amazing amount of flavor. Lime juice, the main ingredient in the marinade, gives the meat a citrus flavor and also tenderizes it. As the meat cooks on the grill it becomes slightly caramelized with delicious layers of flavor.

The key to the salsa is making sure that everything is chopped the same size. I like to sprinkle some salsa over the carved meat and then offer my guests more as a side dish.

The tortillas can be warmed right on the barbecue for 30 seconds on each side or on a gas burner, using tongs to turn them. Keep the tortillas warm by wrapping them in heavy napkins and placing them in a basket.

Start with your favorite guacamole and raw vegetables and chips. Simple vegetable rice is a nice accompaniment, and nothing goes better with this meal than ice cold Mexican beer. For dessert, try fruit sorbets with butter or Mexican wedding cookies.

This meal is just the ticket to welcome summer. Enjoy!

Grilled Skirt Steak with Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salsa

Serves 6

2 pounds skirt steak

12 medium corn tortillas, warmed

For the marinade:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 8 limes)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

Salt and fresh black pepper

For the salsa:

1/2 cup fresh corn kernels, about 1 ear of corn

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno chile, seeded, finely chopped, or 1 tablespoon store-bought spicy green salsa

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 ripe medium avocado, peeled, pitted, and finely chopped

1. Place all the marinade ingredients in a large nonaluminum mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Taste for seasoning. Place the skirt steak in the mixing bowl, being sure to flatten it out and turn it well to coat all sides with marinade. Marinate for 2 to 4 hours covered in the refrigerator.

2. Meanwhile, mix all the salsa ingredients but the avocado in a mixing bowl. Just before serving add the chopped avocado, taking care to keep the avocado in pieces by mixing carefully. Taste for seasoning.

3. Prepare a barbecue for medium-heat grilling. Remove the steak and the onion slices from the marinade and grill 3 inches from the heat for 4 to 6 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Use a grill pan with holes to grill the onion slices, so they don't fall through the grill, and grill until they are lightly charred and soft.

4. Place the steak and onions on a carving platter, let rest for 10 minutes and then thinly slice the meat on the diagonal. Spoon some of the salsa on top of the sliced meat and Serve the remaining salsa and the warmed tortillas on the side.

Advance preparation: Can be prepared up to four hours ahead through Step 2 and refrigerated.

(Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority on new American cooking. She is the author of 18 cookbooks, including "Seriously Simple Parties," and a James Beard Award-winning radio show host. You can contact her at www.seriouslysimple.com.)