I.Love.Mexican.Food

I've always said, I could eat Mexican Food, every day, for the rest of my life. I truly mean that. Admittedly, that also extends to Indian food as well, but this post is here to celebrate my love for Mexican cuisine. I've never been to Mexico, but I've been to hundreds of Mexican joints at this point in my life. I LOVE enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos!! All of it.

In lieu of my love for Me-he-can, let's celebrate some Mexican inspired recipes I've collected from the blog!

Chipotle Lentil Tacos​

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/chipotle-lentil-tacos

I'd say these were my most popular taco recipe to date. First of all, look how gorgeous they are! Second of all, they're ridiculously easy to make.

All it takes is a can of lentils, some veggies, a perfect seasoning blend, and some melty cheese to create the lentil filling. Then, all you need is some garnishes to take them to the next level. Crispy cabbage, fresh green onions, chipotle mayonnaise, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Potato Tacos with Quick Pickled Uns

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/crispy-potato-tacos-with-pickled-onions

If you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you know that I'm obsessed with potatoes. These potato tacos are perfection to me. You get crispy, roasted taters, creamy beans, crispy cabbage, salty feta, and tangy, crunchy pickled onions.

The pickled onions are so easy to make. I always have a jar in my fridge. They're the perfect vinegary punch to cut through the richness of everything else. These tacos are addictive you guys!

Refried Black Bean Tacos

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/refried-black-bean-tacos

First of all, how gorgeous are these tacos? Not only are they gorgeous, but they're really simple too! My quick pickled onions have made another appearance in this recipe, ready to provide a punch of tangy flavour and welcome crisp.

Along with the creamy refried beans, I made a quick esquites salad, threw on some Tajin, crispy cabbage, cilantro lime sauce, and some tangy, salty feta to round everything out. It's all about the garnishes with these otherwise simple tacos.

Chilaquiles

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/chilaquilles

​Chilaquiles is a breakfast / brunch recipe that features corn chips simmered in enchilada style sauce. You can easily use store bought tortilla chips but I decided to fry up my own. There's something yummy about freshly fried chips, isn't there?

Topped with fried eggs, fresh cilantro, melty monterey jack cheese, and crumbled feta. Each serving is garnished with whatever condiments you have on hand. Think salsa verde, pickled hot peppers / onions, green onion or more cilantro. It's a hearty breakfast full of flavour.

Refried Bean & Hominy Enchiladas

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/refried-bean-hominy-enchiladas

There are so many reasons to love enchiladas. They're easy to put together, typically require minimal ingredients and time, and can feed the whole crew with one dish! 

These enchiladas were created on a whim at a friend's house. Stuffed with creamy refried beans, hearty hominy, and cheddar, and baked under a blanket of red enchilada sauce, sliced jals, & cheddar. The garnishes really make these extra special. Fresh cilantro and crispy, red onions.

We get to take things even further when plating. Some additional fresh cilantro and crispy onion, a dollop of smooth, tangy sour cream, sprinkle of tajin, and your favourite green or red salsa to finish everything off. Definitely in my top 3 favourite enchilada recipes I've written!

Totchos

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/totchos

Inauthentic as they may be, loaded fries have become a staple of westernized Mexican cuisine. You'll find everything from your dumpy Taco Bell variety, to something more upscale that features authentic style ingredients.

I was inspired to create a loaded nachos recipe, but decided to serve it up on tater tots, because like, potatoes!  Crispy tots smothered in  monterey jack, a seasoned lentil mix, esquites salad, sauces, feta, pickled jals, tajin, and green onions. These tater tot nachos are most definitely loaded, fun to eat, and absolutely delicious.

Huevos Rancheros

www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/huevos-rancheros​

It doesn't get easier, or fresher, than a nice Huevos Rancheros for brekkie. Warmed / grilled tortillas, freshly made pico, a perfectly fried egg, melty cheese, and sliced avo. The flavours work perfectly together and everything just eats so fresh & light.

Enchilasagna

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/enchilasagna

Although you won't find this on any Mexican menu, it's inspired by the flavours of Mexican cuisine with a little Italian fusion in preparation. Layers of corn tortillas, Mexican pinto beans, refried beans, cheese, and Mexican style rice, smothered in red enchilada sauce & baked to bubbly perfection. 

Finished with some green avocado salsa, crumbled feta, cilantro, and a few dashes of tajin.

Meaty Mexican Sliders

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/mexican-meat-sliders

This was such a fun recipe to create with my best friend. All the flavours of Mexican cuisine, with a little Tex-Mex twist. Seasoned plant-based crumble, melty cheese, sliced red onions, chipotle mayo, and a fresh combination of cilantro & green onions, served on a baked slider bun.

These are kind of like a riff on sloppy joes; a bit messy, stringy, and just fabulous.

Mini Red Enchilada Skillet

​www.thehappyveg.ca/recipes/mini-red-enchilada-skillet

Swap the large tortillas for street taco torts, and you've got a skillet of the cutest, most delicious enchiladas you could ask for. 

Simply stuffed with refried beans & cheese, drenched in red enchilada sauce, and baked to perfection under melty cheese, diced red onions, and sliced jals. 

Serve them up with your favourite garnishes including sour cream, feta, salsa, hot sauce, cilantro etc.

M O R E  TO  C O M E

We're not stopping here you guys! I've got lots of new ideas and recipes that need testing, so expect a bunch of new, Mexican inspired recipes at the blog.

HAPPY VEG