Vegetarian Dishes To Try The Next Time You Go Out For Mexican Food
If you have recently become a vegetarian, you don't have to give up your love affair with Mexican food. Here are some great vegetarian Mexican dishes that you might be able to enjoy at your favorite local Mexican restaurant, or that you can make for yourself at home.
Soup
One of the staples of going out for Mexican food is enjoying a bowl full of tortilla soup. Generally, tortilla soup is made with chicken in most Mexican restaurants. However, many Mexican restaurants now carry a vegetarian version of tortilla soup. Enjoy all the melty cheese, soft chips and slices of avocado that you want.
Another Mexican inspired soup that you may want to try is butternut squash chipotle chili with avocado. This chili skips the meat and instead loads up on black beans, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, butternut squash and of course avocados. This dish is particularly great served with some warm tortillas or tortilla chips. For real Mexican flavor, this dish should be topped with some fresh chopped cilantro.
Or you could try some black bean soup. Most black bean soup is made without meat, although some recipes do call for the addition of ground beet, so make sure that the black bean soup at your favorite restaurant is served without meat.
Appetizers
One of the best and easiest to make and customize vegetarian Mexican appetizer are nachos. Nachos do not need meat to be delicious. Next time you want nachos, just ask them to hold the meat and pile up on the vegetables. Jalapeños, banana peppers, tomatoes, and avocados are all great nacho toppings. If you want your nachos to be a little sweeter, consider adding some sliced mangos, peaches or pineapple to your next plate.
Another easy vegetarian appetizer is a quesadilla. You can just go with a plain cheese quesadilla, or you can order a vegetable quesadilla. Sautéed mushrooms and avocado slices are a great vegetable quesadilla option.
Main Dishes
There are plenty of main vegetarian dishes that you can enjoy at your favorite Mexican restaurant or whip up at home.
If you want to go all out with the vegetables, you can always have a salad. Most Mexican restaurants make a wide variety of different salad options that you can enjoy, such as a Mexican Salad that features fresh spinach, tomatoes, cactus and avocado. Or an avocado salad that allows you to load up on this sweet green treat.
If you want to eat a more traditional Mexican dish, you still have plenty of options. You can get some chile rellenos, which is a roasted pepper dish, that can be stuffed with cheese and covered with roasted salsa, serrano and oregano sauces, as well as some cilantro.
Next, you can enjoy some cheese or black bean tamales. The ingredients will be wrapped up in a cornmeal wrapper inside of steamed corn husks.
Finally, you can always order a vegetarian burrito or taco. Vegetarian burritos are often stuffed with rice, beans, zucchini, squash, onions, mushrooms and peppers. Vegetarian tacos can come filled with a variety of ingredients, ranging from tofu and tempe, to lettuce, cheese, avocado, tomato and salsa.
Just because you are switching to a vegetarian diet does not mean that you can't still enjoy Mexican food. There are lots of great soups, appetizers and main Mexican dishes that can be enjoyed without the addition of meat. Contact a restaurant, such as El Chico Cafe, for more information on vegetarian dishes.