Tag Archives: Mexican food

Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

It’s just around the corner…

Hola! That’s right Cinco de Mayo is coming!

Usually, I wait until the last minute to post a  new recipe, but I decide to get a bit ahead this month.  Mexican food is so full of spice and flavor that it’s hard to narrow down a favorite choice for celebrating. I’ll add a few links for previously posted dishes that could tempt you, or you can try the one I’m posting today.

Also, I’d like to remind you I have a Low Carb 15 Mexican Food recipe eBook that is currently on sale for just about any reader. It will be just 99 cents until May 6th.  It has 15 (actually 16) recipes to celebrate Mexican Food any time you want. Just ’cause you’re on a Keto or low carb diet doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the wonderful flavors. In fact, with more and more products being developed for Keto, the choices are growing. I just picked up low carb tortillas from La Tortilla Factory that are zero carb! Don’t ask me how they do it; I am just thrilled to see it! And they taste pretty good.

Now on to the recipes. First up is a Chile Rellano Casserole. When you want something quick to make, this can come together in about 20 minutes with an addition 40 to 45 minute bake time. If you start with canned chiles, it’s really easy. And it is super low-carb. For the low carb flour, I used Dixie Carb Counters All Purpose Flour, but you can use Carbquik or even coconut flour (use 1/2 tablespoon).

Chile Rellano at the front.

Chile Rellano Casserole

2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chiles or 6 to 7 whole Poblano or Anaheim chiles
8 ounces Mexican mix Cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup Almond Milk or 1/4 cup Heavy Cream and 1/4 cup Water
1 tablespoons All-purpose Low carb Flour
4 oz Tomato Sauce or chopped Tomatoes, blended
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 tablespoon Flaked Onions, dehydrated or 1 quarter cup chopped Onion.
1 cup Diced Chicken (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Herb and Garlic seasoning

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8×8-inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter.

If using chopped chiles:
In a large bowl, add eggs, milk, and flour and whisk together. Then add chiles, ricotta cheese, seasoning, and flaked onions. Whisk together until blended. Add chiles, chicken, and 1/2 of the cheese and stir to mix.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle cheese on top.

If using whole chiles:
If you’re using canned whole chiles, go to the next step. If you’re cleaning fresh chiles, place about six chiles under the broiler and cook until they are charred. Flip them over to get both sides. Place in cold water to loosen the charred skin. Use a paring knife to get the skin loosened and remove it. Cut the stems off, then slice open and remove the seeds and any membrane (ridges) inside unless you want them very spicy.

Lay half the chiles in the baking pan’s bottom, sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese over the top, then lay the other half on top and sprinkle with more cheese.

In a large bowl, add eggs, milk, and flour and whisk together. Then add ricotta cheese, seasonings, and flaked or chopped onions. Whisk together until blended. Add chiles, chicken and 1/4 of the cheese and stir to mix. Pour over the chiles.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until it is set. Pour tomato sauce evenly over the top; continue baking for 15 more minutes.

Turn broiler on. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes.

Let cool about 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Casserole Nutrition Information

Since you save so many carbs with the main course, you have enough for a tasty side dish. This Spanish rice is made with riced Natural Heaven Hearts of Palm . You can also use the canned riced hearts of palm. Failing that, I do have a cauliflower rice version here.  This is a low carb variation on my grandmother’s recipe, so it’s more Tex-Mex than Mexico, but I love it.

I’ll just mention that Natural Heaven sells a pre-made Southwest Rice with beans and corn.  It’s okay, although a little higher in carbs.  I tried it and I think it has a vinegar taste to it, but if you’d like to try it, you can order it from Amazon.

Hearts of Palm Spanish Rice

Palm Spanish Rice

1 package Natural Heaven Hearts of Palm White Rice
OR 1 can Hearts of Palm Rice
1 8 oz. can Diced Tomatoes with Chile
1/4 cup Diced Onions
1 tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Spicy Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)

In a skillet, add the butter. When melted, add the garlic then stir until it is sizzling. Add the chopped onion and stir for about three minutes until it is fragrant. Add the rice and stir it in for about three minutes.

Add the can of diced tomatoes and chiles and mix it into the skillet until the rice is coated. Add the seasonings and stir. Reduce the heat to a medium simmer and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Makes 4 to 6 servings. The nutrition information is for 4 servings. Six servings are 5.1 net carbs each.

Palm rice Nutrition Information

Other Mexican food recipes you might enjoy are:

    

Carnitas    

Enchilladas with Chicken and Zucchini

Photo: Cod with Chorizo

Spicy Cod with Chorizo

Easy Flan

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. They are a close calculation and may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Copyright 2023 by Rene Averett
Italian Inspired Recipes, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Poultry, Recipes

For Cinco de Mayo, Italian Enchiladas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This is one of those holidays that’s like St. Patrick’s Day where it doesn’t matter what your heritage is, you celebrate the day because it’s fun. And in this case, the food is delicious and wonderful. Now for those of you who really Italian fun and maybe want to combine Italian with Mexican, I ran across this recipe for Italian Enchiladas. Why not? It combines two terrific food cultures and it tastes great. I adapted the recipe for my low carb lifestyle and I’m happy to share it. Viva la Enchilada!

Italian Enchiladas with Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

6 low carb Tortillas
3/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Chicken Breast baked or roasted and chopped
3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup chopped Baby Spinach
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Salsa
3/4 cup Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, egg, and spinach.

Add 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon chile powder to a small bowl and mix together. Sprinkle over the chopped chicken and mix together.

Heat tortillas in a package in the microwave for 1 minute or warm individually on the stove. Wrap in a towel or foil to keep warm.

Spoon 1/4 of the ricotta mixture down the middle of the tortilla, top with seasoned chicken and roll up.

Spread 1/4 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of the baking pan or a stove-to-oven skillet, such as a cast iron or copper clad one. Place the rolled tortilla into the pan, seam side down. Prepare the next one and place it into the pan until all are done. Pour the remaining pasta sauce over the enchiladas and top with the rest of the mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned and it bubbles around the edges. Let cool for about 15 minutes, then serve garnished with chopped scallions and sour cream, if you wish.

Makes 4 servings: (one enchilada per serving)

Nutrition Information:
Calories: 178.2 Fat: 10.7 g Net Carbs: 4.0 g Protein: 14.4 g

Another view of the Italian Enchilada on a not-so-colorful plate.

For this recipe, I used a very tasty Pumpkin Pasta Sauce from Cucina Antica. It is lower carb’d than others that I looked at although I also like Raley’s Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce as well. You can use a regular pasta sauce if you prefer rather than going with the pumpkin one.

Are you going to give this recipe a try? Let me know what you think.

Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Poultry, Recipes

Quick Chicken Quesadillas

Lots going on this month, the new cookbook on the way and some last minute baking for that for photographs and I’m running behind, then throw in a computer problem or two and my month is kaput.  So, let’s end this month with an easy to put together recipe.  Don’t forget “Sweets by the Season” will be out in October!

Got a little leftover chicken and some cheddar cheese? Add a tortilla and some salsa and you have a quick and simple lunch or dinner.

Chicken Quesadillas

2/3 cup Cooked Chicken, diced or cut into slices
1/2 cup Cheddar or Cheddar Jack Cheese
4 tablespoons Tomato Salsa (about 2 nc per serving)
2 Low Carb Tortillas
2 tablespoon Butter
4 or 6 slices of Haas Avocado (optional)
2 tablespoons Sour Cream (optional)

Warm the tortilla over a hot burner or for about 5 seconds in a microwave. Put the 1/2 the chicken down the middle, slightly to one side, top with half the cheese and salsa. Fold the tortilla over the filling to make a turnover shape.

Heat the butter over medium heat in a skillet until it is melted, then put the stuffed tortilla into the pan and cook it until it is browned on one side, about three to five minutes depending on how high the heat is. Use a spatula to turn the tortilla to the other side and brown it also. This should be enough to heat the chicken and melt the cheese.

Put on a plate and garnish with sour cream and 2 or 3 avocado slices.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 347.6 Fat: 23.9 g Net Carbs: 3.5 g Protein: 28.2 g

Nutrition Info per serving (with avocado and sour cream):
Calories: 445.5 Fat: 33 g Net Carbs: 4.7 g Protein: 29.5 g

Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Poultry, Recipes

Easy to Make Baked Chicken with Zucchini

This is similar to a recipe that I made before for Salsa Chicken that is cooked in a skillet, but this recipe takes it a step or two further and you use your oven or toaster oven to finish cooking it, plus I’ve added zucchini and cheese to make a more complete meal.  Serve it over a bed of cauliflower rice and all you need to add is a small dinner salad to make a great meal.  If you love Mexican or spicy foods, this is a meal that pleases the taste buds.

I used a salsa from my neighborhood grocery store Raley’s that included corn in it.  It is 2 net carbs per 2 tablespoons.  La Victoria Medium Salsa is 1 net carb per 2 tablespoons, so you can save a carb per serving by using a lower carb’d salsa.   Check the nutrition information on the bottle to look for the lower carb’d ones.

Baked Spanish Chicken with Zucchini 

4 Chicken Tenders (about 2 breasts)
1/2 cup Zucchini, sliced
6 tablespoons Tomato Salsa
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1teaspoon Olive Oil or Coconut Oil
1 cup Cheddar Jack Cheese, grated
1 1/2 cup Cauliflower, riced
1 tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon Chicken bullion
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 365 degrees (F.) Spray a baking pan to fit the chicken with cooking spray.

Sprinkle salt and pepper (or any other seasoning you wish) over the chicken pieces. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat then add the minced garlic. Cook until it begins to brown, then add the chicken. Brown the chicken on both sides. Put 4 tablespoons of salsa over the chicken and stir it in, then add the zucchini to lightly cook.

Cook and stir for about five minutes, then transfer to the prepared baking pan. Spread the remaining two tablespoons of salsa over the top, then sprinkle the cheddar cheese over it.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the chicken is completely done.

While the chicken bakes, prepare the cauliflower rice. Put 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet to melt over medium heat. Add the cauliflower and stir well to coat with butter and lightly toast. Add 1/2 cup of water with the bullion and stir into the cauliflower. Lower the temperature to a simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes. Check the water in it and stir a couple of times while it cooks. If you need to add more water, then add about 2 tablespoons.

The cauliflower will be done about the same time as the chicken. Put 3/4 cup of cauli-rice on the plate and serve half the chicken over it, getting half the zucchini and sauce in the serving.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 419 Fat: 19.7 g Net Carbs: 8.6 g Protein: 47.7 g

A to Z Challenge 2015, Beef, Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Zest for Zucchini

Zucchini is one of the favorite vegetables of the world and it certainly ranks high in my culinary endeavors. It is delicious almost any way you prepare it and there are countless ways to use it in your cooking from salads, to main course to appetizers to desserts and breads. However, zucchini is part of a much larger family that includes other summer squashes, winter squashes, melons and cucumbers. Yep, they are all related, some a little closer than others.

Greenhouses, importers, and various growing locations worldwide have ensured that we can find zucchini in grocery stores at any time of the year. Others in the family, like yellow, crookneck and scallop squashes don’t show up as consistently. They each have their own unique flavor and blend well together when cooked. Zucchini has a delicate flavor, an edible skin, and a creamy off-white flesh. Generally the smaller, 3 to 4-inch vegetables are the best for eating since the seeds are smaller and edible and the flavor is at its best, I think. As they get bigger, they get tougher, seeds are bigger and the flesh isn’t as sweet. If you are stuffing a zucchini, try to look for about 5” and as big around as you can find.

Besides the delicious vegetables — oh, wait, that isn’t really a vegetable, but a fruit! It is formed in the same manner as fruits, so technically it is one of them. But I will continue to count it in the vegetable column. The zucchini also produces an edible golden flower. I admit, I have never cooked one of the flowers, although they are popular fried. I did have a couple of plants one summer that did not cross-pollinate because the flowers were all I got. The male flower blooms first to attract bees and the female blossom, which has the bud of a tiny fruit under it, needs to be pollinated by the bee. If this doesn’t happen, no zucchini will form. I was once told that you need at least two plants, but that apparently, isn’t necessary so long as the plant produces a female blossom. If no bees are in the area, you can transfer some of the pollen using a Q-Tip to dip into the male flower and put it in the center of the female bloom. Doesn’t that sound romantic?

All squashes have their ancestry in the Americas, but they have spread around the world. They are easy to grow and mature quickly. It’s one of the few plants that I can actually get a decent crop from in the micro-climate of South Reno. Native Americans called squashes one of the “three sisters” in their culture. The other two were corn and beans, which are also native to the Americas. The squash blossom is a popular design motif in Native American art and jewelry.

The squash we now call zucchini was developed in Italy from the root squashes brought back from America. It was cultivated,  in the late 19th century and likely near Milan. The name came from zucca, which is the Italian word for pumpkin or squash and the suffix “ino” or “ina”, meaning little and becoming zucchini in the plural form. The French called it “Courgette” and it is known that way in much of Europe, so if you see that in a recipe, you know it is zucchini or vice versa. They are known as baby marrow in South Africa.

As little as 30 years ago, the zucchini was barely known in the United States and it was referred to as the Italian squash. It was likely brought to the country of its ancestors by Italian immigrants. But it took hold and has become  popular to eat and grow.

Going back to its roots, zucchini, like all summer squash, is delicious with its other two sisters, corn and beans, and popular in Native American and Mexican foods. While beans and corn are used sparingly in a low carb lifestyle, summer squashes are very low in carbohydrates, which makes them awesome!

Nutrition information 1 medium (196 g)
Calories: 33 Fat: 0.5g Net Carbs: 4.0 g Protein: 2.4 g

Recipes

There are several recipes on this site that feature zucchini:

Bacon & Zucchini Stuffed Sole
Zucchini Fritters
Chicken with Tomatoes & Zucchini
Zucchini and Sausages Bake

Featured Recipe

Since Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner and the squash is a Native American, which includes Mexico and South America, crop, it seems apropos that the recipe should honor that heritage. The Mexican name for squash is calabacitas and the Mexican zucchini is similar to the Italian one but more rounded and tear drop shaped. This is an original recipe I’ve developed over the years.

Calabacitas y Carne Con Queso

Mexican Squash with Meat and Cheese
Recipe by Rene Averett

3 cups Mexican Zucchini (or regular zucchini)
1 lb Beef, ground
1 can Chiles, mild or medium to your preference
1 cup Cheddar Jack Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Mexican Cheese, Queso Fresco or similar
1/2 cup diced Onions
1 cup canned Diced Tomatoes, with juice
2 Low Carb Tortillas
1 cup Jicama, shredded or cubed or Daikon Radish, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 teaspoon dried Mexican Oregano
2 tablespoon fresh Cilantro
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.)

Slice zucchini into 1/4″thick rounds.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and heat a minute or so, then add garlic, jicama and onions. Stir cook the onions until they are fragrant and shiny. Add ground beef and lightly brown, then add seasonings, chiles and diced tomatoes. Stir and cook for about 10 minutes until hot and bubbly. Stir in the fresh cilantro.

Spray a round 2 qt. casserole dish with baking spray. Layer 1/3 of the zucchini on the bottom of the dish. Pour 1/3 of the meat mixture over the top, then sprinkle 1/3 cup of cheddar jack cheese over that. Put a tortilla on top and repeat with another layer of zucchini followed by the meat and cheese. Put the second tortilla on top and use the rest of the zucchini, meat and cheese on top of that.

Bake for 25 minutes until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle the Mexican cheese over the top and return to the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Info per serving :
Calories: 260 Fat:17.0 g Net Carbs: 8.7 g Protein: 16.3 g

And it’s Z-end of the the A to Z blog challenge! I will resume my usual Tuesday post schedule next week, but I thank everyone who stopped by to visit and comment during the A to Z Challenge. I hope you will continue to visit now and then.

 

Input for this article came from World’s Healthiest Foods,  Nutrition and You, Wikipedia, and The History of Zucchini.

All photos taken by R. Averett for Skinny Girl Bistro.