I love Mexican, and I bet you do as well! However, indulging in this yummy cuisine can stretch the waistline. The chips, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and refried beans—so amazing, but these gems are loaded with calories. One seafood chimichanga at a Mexican Restaurant can tally over 1,000 calories! What is one to do?
Start making your favorite dishes at home without all the salt and extra calories. Opt for tortilla with high fiber, low fat sour cream, cheese, and meat to reduce calories. Mexican food can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Here are a few healthy recipes to help get started.
GOYA has many recipes that will keep the waistline in check.
Quinoa Sweet Potato Hash and Eggs:
Ingredients:
1. 3 tbsp. GOYA® Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
2. 2 sweet potatoes (1 ¼ lbs.), cut into 1/2 inch chunks
3. 1 ½ cups GOYA® Frozen Cut-leaf Spinach
4. 4 large scallions, chopped
5. 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
6. 1 tsp. paprika
7. 1/2 tsp. salt
8. 1/8 tsp. pepper
9. 1 cup cooked GOYA® Organic Tri-Color Quinoa
10. 4 large eggs
Instructions:
1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes. Cook covered, stirring occasionally until almost tender, 10 min.
2. Stir in spinach, scallions, sundried tomatoes, paprika, salt and pepper. Spread level and place quinoa on top. Cook covered on medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, 5 min.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Crack eggs and drop into skillet. Cover and cook to desired doneness. Serve over hash.
From SkinnyMS by Begin Within Nutrition:
Crockpot Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 pound dry black beans, soaked overnight
1. 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2. ½ white onion, diced
3. 2 cloves garlic, minced
4. 4 cups vegetable broth
5. 2 cups water
6. 1 tablespoon cumin
7. ½ teaspoon paprika
8. ½ teaspoon chili powder (more if you like it spicy!)
9. sea salt to taste
10. ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
11. fresh salsa
12. baked corn tortillas and 13. lime wedges
Instructions:
1. Soak beans overnight in 10 cups of water, drain, rinse and set aside.
2. In a small skillet over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent.
3. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, remove from heat.
4. Add beans, sautéed onion/garlic mixture, vegetable broth, water, cumin, paprika and chili powder to crock pot.
5. Cook on high for 4 hours then on low for 2 hours or until beans are tender. Add fresh cilantro and sea salt to taste. 6. Transfer half of the soup to a food processor/blender and puree until creamy. (you can also use a hand-held immersion blender) Mix back into crock pot with the rest of the soup and stir.
7. Serve with fresh salsa, crispy corn chips and lime wedges. You can also top with avocado and hot sauce!
From Food Network Kitchens:
Mexican Layered Bean Casserole
Instructions:
1. Sprinkle the zucchini slices all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside. Stir together the beans, pico de gallo and oregano in a medium bowl.
2. Arrange the following in layers in a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan or 10-inch round microwave-safe dish: 4 of the tortilla halves, one-third of the bean mixture, one-third of the zucchini and 1/4 cup of the cheese. Repeat twice, while packing down the layers. Sprinkle with additional salt and the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
3. Microwave on high until the zucchini is fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Remove from the microwave and loosely cover with foil to finish the cooking process, about 5 minutes. (Alternatively, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and cook until heated through and the cheese is melted, 15 to 20 minutes.)
4. Sprinkle with the cilantro, slice into 4 wedges and serve.
From Mom Foodie:
Fresh Grilled Shrimp and Corn Tacos
Ingredients:
1. ¾ to 1 pound jumbo wild caught shrimp (de-headed)
2. 8 corn tortillas
3. ¼ cup crumbled queso fresco
4. arugula (substitute other lettuce if you prefer)
5. Batch of Tex-Mex Corn & Tomato Salad , the dressing used to marinate shrimp is reserved from this recipe
Instructions:
1. Remove shell from shrimp, leaving tails on. De-vein, then marinate in ¼ of the dressing from corn salad.
2. If you haven't already prepared the salad, do so now.
3. Preheat grill.
4. Once hot, place the tortillas on the hot grill--leave it on med-high to high heat. When the tortillas get some color, flip them. Once the other side is done, remove to plate lined with paper or cloth towel. Fold each over in a row, and then place a wooden spoon or other utensil on top to gently weight them, and keep them in taco shape, while cooling.
5. Grill the shrimp. This should be quick. Pull them off as soon as no translucency is visible on the outside, to avoid over cooking. If the inside isn't fully cooked through, it will finish doing so off the grill, from residual heat.
