Are there any healthy real Mexican dishes?/

[SCIfor55yrs.]

I will say up front that Mexican food is probably the lowest on my list of cuisines. Much of that has to do with all the carbs and saturated fats in it. We have a couple supposedly authentic restuarants here and the dishes are just as unhealthy as Taco Bell grease. I know the dishes can be lightened up but I am talking about the real cultural cuisine.

[melodiclogic22]

scifor55years,

Have you ever tried shrimp ceviche'.

Joe

[anban]

I second the ceveche! I usually have it with fish, but I bet the shrimp is good too.
When I was in Mexico city for three weeks one of my favorite dishes was a whole chicken simmered in tomato sauce and spices, served with whole Pinto beans and corn tortillas to wrap it up. Also had a lot of fruit dishes with mango and fresh melon. Nobody ever had rice like they serve up here, and certainly nothing was slathered in cheese.

[Kari in Pacific NW]

Caldo de Pollo: chicken soup with lots of vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, corn on the cob, potatoes, zucchini, chayote.

[SCIfor55yrs.]

Those things sound good. I wonder why they are not on the menus in our "authentic" restaurants. I have always been puzzled by the cheese and sour cream used in so many dishes. I never associated them with Mexico.

[LIP26]

it can be if you make it yourself - just like anything else - find a recipe and alter it to your standards!!

[SCI-Nurse]

Some regional authentic Mexican dishes do include a lot of cheese. Cheese is made in Mexico in large amounts, and you can get specialty Mexican cheeses (not American Cheese or regular cheddar). In addition, although sour cream is used widely in Mexico and much of Central America for cooking, crema in Mexico is much more likely to be used. It is sort of a combination of yogurt and sour cream, but more like creme fraiche.

In coastal areas of Mexico, a lot of seafood is eaten. Shrimp (esp. in the Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez) is wonderful, esp. when seasoned and grilled, and fish such as snapper and langouste (spiny or rock lobsters) is tasty (and healthy) and widely prepared.

Most of what you get at "Mexican" restaurants such as Taco Bell are actually closer to TexMex food, and bear little resemblence to what is considered fine Mexican cooking.

Here are some examples of real Mexican foods and recipes:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Recipes...cipes-191.aspx

http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cooking/recipes/

http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/food.htm

Don't forget other Central American foods too. Foods from El Salvador, for example, are different from Mexican foods, and have their own afficiandos. Curdito, for example, is a spicy marinated cole slaw from El Salvador that is very healthy.

If I am making Mexican at home, and need tortillas, I purchase some of the low carb tortillas that I can get at Trader Joe's or the local grocery store. They are more expensive though.

(KLD

[brucec]

good food is suppose to be bad for me

[Liz321]

Find a Bayless cookbook or watch him on tv/youtube

[BobMach]

most Mexican cuisine in the country is "Americanized" meaning its covered in a cheesy layer of melted orange goo with flour tortillas or a hard crispy corn taco shell (actually a product of Texas and not really Mexican at all).
most Mexican dishes are served with corn tortillas, corn being a whole grain and farmers cheese which is much lower in fat. there's lots of ways to reduce calories and fat out of Mexican food. i use rotisserie chicken for soft corn tortilla tacos and enchiladas with Mexican farmer cheese, avocados, lite sour cream, salsa etc for toppings.