Preparing Mexican Food the Healthy Way: Tacos and Nachos

Mexican food is rarely regarded as healthy, mostly due to the amount of cheese and grease used into preparing a number of America's favorite Mexican dishes. However, with substitution, a number of your favorite dishes can be enjoyed. In my article, "How to Prepare Healthy Mexican Food: Chili Rellenos and Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers", I discussed two fried dishes that many of us enjoy. In this article, I'll concentrate on two very popular family meals that can carry huge fat and calorie counts: tacos and nachos.

Tasty Tacos

What's the key to healthy tacos? Variety! These variations will leave you kicking your old, fatty tacos out the door.

Let's start with the base: the shell. There are a number of different tortilla shells to choose from in the grocery store, and, if you prefer a soft taco, there are also a number of different tortillas out there. The best way to cut the fat is to pick a smaller tortilla or shell. Stay away from those giant tortillas: it's just extra breading. Check the nutritional facts. Make sure the shell is under 100 calories. A small soft flour tortilla will run about 80 calories and less than 1 gram of fat.

The meat of choice for tacos is usually ground beef. While you can choose to purchase lean ground beef, it might be more cost effective to purchased ground turkey. Trust me, with the garlic and peppers you use to season the meat, you really aren't going to be able to tell the difference. Two of the leanest meats to use in your taco are fish and shredded chicken. If you're not quite sure how to cook fish for your tacos, watch for my upcoming article on fish taco recipes. Both light meats taste delicious blended with chili seasonings and fresh toppings.

When you're dressing your taco, you might be adding hundreds of unneeded calories to the meal. My best advice is to stay away from cheese. And, if you can't stay away from the cheese, at least choose a low fat shredded cheese made with skim milk and use only a pinch of it sprinkled over your meat. This way the flavor is spread out, and you're using about an ounce of cheese compared to two or three ounces. Sour cream is in the same boat: using low fat sour cream will significantly lower the number of calories sitting on top of your shell.

The best topping for healthy tacos is shredded lettuce and salsa. Great salsa will give your meal a tremendous amount of flavor without the guilt. The healthiest approach is to make your own so that you can eliminate preservatives and cut down on the sugar and sodium. If you don't have your own salsa recipe, do a search for salsa recipes on Associated Content. You'll be surprised by how many great ones you'll find, such as Anne Copely's recipe in her AC article "Eat Your Way to Good Health and a Slim Figure with Life-Giving Fresh Salsa" . You can use this recipe again when fixing your healthy nachos.

Loaded Nachos

Healthy Nachos? Is that even possible? Well, nachos can be relatively healthy in small portions. However, chips and cheese are two huge diet roadblocks. Here's how to substitute these foods to fit your healthy-eating lifestyle.

Firstly, take a look at the chips you're buying. Go for the baked tortilla chips instead of grabbing the regular ones. You'll trim quite a bit of fat and calories by making this simple move. But, if the price of baked tortilla chips has got you down, try making your own. The process is surprisingly simply: cut a flour tortilla into chip shapes, spray lightly with a bit of Pam cooking spray, season, and toast in the oven for a few minutes. Keep a close eye on your chips though-you don't want them to burn. While you're cooking, decide whether you'd prefer to load each chip with toppings or if you'd prefer to toss your new chips on a plate and load them from there.

Now, cheese is a big issue with nachos. The best cheese dips are loaded with fat and calories, but there are still several recipes out there for low fat cheese sauces. (As with the salsa, Associated Content is full of cheese sauce recipes.) However, if you want hearty, meal-worthy nachos, I suggest dropping most of the cheese and simply lightly sprinkling low fat shredded cheese over your loaded nachos instead. Now, the word "loaded" sounds like it should be associated with high fat, but that's not true. Top your chips with refried beans, not the normal stuff, but low fat, low sodium, refried "black" beans. Black beans pack extra nutrition that your body needs and are higher in fiber. If you'd prefer to stay away from the refried beans, try opening a can of black beans, washing them, then warming them in your salsa. Spoon the mix over your nachos for a delicious topping that'll satisfy and fill you. Healthy sliced jalapeno peppers also make a fantastic choice for nachos, so feel free to add them to your salsa mix as well.

Another healthy topping choice is guacamole. While avocados seem full of fat, they're extremely healthy for you and packed with the amino acids your body needs. So, feel free to crown your nachos with a tablespoon of guacamole instead of cheese.

Load your nachos high with a hearty helping of the above toppings. You'll feel like you're being bad, but you'll actually be taking in your veggies.

If you're afraid that you'll crave more food than your meager portion of homemade tortilla chips provide, make a taco salad from the fixings and break up your chips over the mix.

Consider these tips next time you're making Mexican food and your body will thank you!