Are there any Mexican dishes that are healthy?

Question

I love Mexican food, but it seems like most Mexican dishes are high in fat and calories. They contain a lot of cheese, fried food, and rich salsas. It also seems like the only vegatables in Mexican food are corn (which is not really a vegatable), and hot peppers. Are there ant Mexican dishes that are healthy? Are there any ones that contain green vegatables, like broccoli, green breans, or spinach?
If not how to mexicans manage to get the proper nutrition?

Answer 1

The stuff you get piled with cheese and sour cream, most of it is not truly mexican food. We have a lot of dishes that do not call for frying or adding all that stuff you see in "tex-mex" or taco bell crap.

A lof of mexican dishes call for cooking meat (whether chicken or beef), and served with a simple tomato sauce or a sauce with some kind of chile.

Stuffed poblano peppers, you can stuff them with a mix of rice and ground meat.

Or cut the poblano pepper in strips and saute with onion and that can be either a meal or a side or something to add on your meat.

There's plenty of vegetable soups or chicken rice soups that are healthy as well.

You s hould also keep in mind...if you see a dish that wsa fried like flautas, or some enchiladas , most of them can be baked in the oven and taste just as well.

Answer 2

The Mexican food you get here in America is not true Mexican food. Just like Chinese food, it gets catered to more American tastes with all the sauces and fried, heavy ingredients we love and that are killing us. Real Mexican cuisine uses fresher ingredients with more vegetables and less meat, because like most food that is brought from some where else, it's, how should I say it, "peasant" food that is mostly made up of easily grown veggies such as corn, tomates, chilies, and the like. Meat is eaten way too much in America. Most countries just use it as a flavoring more than a main course. Pick up an authentic mexican cookbook and see how different it is from what you get in more americanized mexician food establishments

Answer 3

For a healthy diet your approximate calories should come in following proportions-
25% Fats
50% Carbohydrates
25% Proteins
In my opinion Mexican food is perfectly fine as far as healthy eating is concerned. You get your Proteins from meat and beans, Carbs from corn and wheat and Fats from milk, cream, cheese and oils. The balance is also achieved through eating some foods raw, some foods cooked and some foods fried. Vitamins and minerals come from fruits and vegetables.

Answer 4

Yeah, most Mexicans eat a LOT of rice and beans, very little meat.

But for healthy eat-out Mexican food, try chicken or shrimp fajitas. Skip the sour cream, but eat the pico de gallo, salsa and a bit of guac is good (good kind of fat). Many places also have portobello mushrioom fajitas. Probably not entirely authentic, but lower calorie and satisfying.

And I forget the word for it, but try the bean soup (beans in a soupy broth) rather than refried. Refried usually has lard in it. The rice is probably ok.

And Chicken Tortilla Soup, or other broth-based soup, is also a good choice.

Answer 5

Absolutely! First, cook some brown rice or rice pilaf and use a little bit of dried cilantro and season salt in it.

Then, try sauteeing your favourite veggies in a sautee pan. Just use a tablespoon of olive oil to help them brown.

While that's going, I heat up some vegetarian refried beans (rosarita green chile and lime are my favourite). Once the veggies are done, I spread some beans on a Fajita sized whole wheat tortilla, add the veggies and the rice, throw on some freshly chopped tomatoes, and then may sprinkle a small amount of cheddar on it (like a tablespoon or less).

This way you have your veggies and a complete protein with the rice & beans. You also have whole grains with the tortilla and it's basically low in fat.

Answer 6

Living in Mexico I don´t have that perception. We don´t use cheddar or American cheese on Mexican dishes. It is consider bad manners or a very bad habit to drink soda pop during lunch. We have lemonade prepared with fresh limes or agua de Jamaica or any other fruit blended with bottled water. Most of the time there are 2 pitchers one with sugar for kids and no sugar for adults, I´m speaking about middle class. It is not nice, either, to bring anything wrapped on cellophane (processed) or in a box to the table. We put lime juice on are popcorn, not butter. We sprinckle chili powder, salt and lime juice on carrots, cucumbers and jícama, not cheese/cream dips. Mexican recipes are very different from American-Mexican recipes. For example, tortilla soup is veeeeery different here. it´s very healthy, the soup is made with skimmed chicken broth, tomato, onion, garlic salt and EPAZOTE. Then the 6 garnishes served seperatly and everyone at the table can decide weather to add it to their tortilla soup or not. The garnishes are: chile pasilla finely cut, cubed avocado, farmer´s cheese in cubes, low fat cream or jocoque, chicharrón, lime juice and of course, the tortilla thin chips which can be baked instead of fried.
* Restaurants in Mexico use a metal wire thing that holds 6 small bowls for the garnishes of tortilla soup and this ´thing´ is also used to bring the toppings of pozole: limes, oregano, chili powder, radishes, lettuce, tostada chips...

Answer 7

What you get in Mexican restaurants is not true Mexican food, just like Hamburgrs are not the only thing we Americans eat.
Try doing a search on Rick Bayless. He's a chef (on PBS) who specializes in Mexican food and his recipes are wonderful. Mexicans eat very well in Mexico, and they don't eat tons of dairy and red meat as we like to think here in the USA.
Good luck.

Answer 8

Living in Mexico, its sort of hard to think of "Mexican food" - ebcause different areas have totally different dishes. But in general, southern states of Mexico like Oaxaca and Yucatán have more vegetable based cuisine, and Northern states like Nuevo León and Sonora have a more meat, cream, and cheese based diet.

Anyway, if you are serious about authentic Mexican food, search for cookbooks, or online recipes, from specific states. Try a cookbook or recipes from Oaxaca in particular. Its nothing like what most Americans or Northern Mexicans think of as Mexican food.

Answer 9

yup, there are chicken or steak fajitas, which aren't fried in oil or anything. they're actually pretty good. and there's also a shrimp cocktail you could have, with shrimp and sliced avocados and chopped cilantro and onions.
you could have salsa, which is just the tomatos and onions and the rest of that good stuff.
I know it's hard to find Healthy mexican food that isn't fattening, i know because i'm Mexican my self.
my family and i hardly eat ANY mexican food because it's high in fat and in calories, like you said before. although the food is so delicious, it's fattening. the mexicans get their proper nutrition from eating tortillas basically, it's like their staple food. well, corn actually is their staple food because they eat corn with like, everything. there's tamales which are made of corn, tortillas, enchiladas, tostadas, tacos, chilaquiles, etc.
take care.

Answer 10

first of all salsa is not high in fat, second cheese is dairy, good for you unless you abuse it, and corn is a grain that is alright. So you mix chicken broccoli and green beans for a fajita its you tortilla fill it with what you want. Try a tortilla with hummus grilled onions and peppers with a spicy meat, and lettuce.