Mexican

If you like Mexican comfort food this is your go-to. Perfect for brunch or even for dinner. This version is spicy enough to make most noses run but can be adjusted for milder palates.

What’s the difference between chili and taco soup? Broth, of course. There is more broth in taco soup is more so it’s thinner than chili. The internet tells me that chili is technically considered a stew. Go figure.

In a hurry to make dinner? These tacos are quick and easy. Depending on how much preparation you do in advance, this dish can meet that goal in 15 – 25 minutes!

These taste so fresh!  They remind me of the best tacos I had in Cancun. 

At first you’d think chimichangas would be high carb. The good news is they have low carb tortillas at the grocery store that taste the same as the traditional. Look for the low carb versions.

A spicy and refreshing salsa can jazz up any dish. Dieter Lois shared this recipe for her ZReduction-friendly salsa verde. She whipped up a batch to put over her eggs, but this would be good on just about anything.

This dish comes together in a flash. If you are doing beef enchiladas, I recommend red sauce. If you are doing chicken, I recommend you go wild and use a green sauce.

This version of our enchilada offerings does include a tortilla. It’s not a large one and we over-stuff it so we keep the carbs down. It should fill you up. If you do a few taco chips and salsa and guacamole, one enchilada should be enough for your meal.

This makes a mild but flavorful dressing to accent anything Mexican or Southwestern. If you want it spicy you can add a dusting of cayenne before blending.

From Dieter Claire: Make this in bulk and store it in a jar. It's less expensive than taco seasoning packets and has no fillers. Plus, I can tweak the flavors to suit my family.

What is it with summer and Mexican food? My real theory is it has more to do with the climate in Mexico...

I have done these with a crowd at a party and laid out all the ingredients. Each person took a plate, a tortilla and went around placing their ingredients on the tortilla. Then they brought them to me to grill. I have given instructions here for how to bake them too.

In a regular tamale pie the cornbread is usually on top, like a crust. This low carb tamale pie actually has NO CORN in it. I call it Upside Down because in this recipe the “cornbread” is actually on the bottom.

This is my favorite dish to order in a Mexican restaurant. Trouble is they wrap it in several rolled-up tortillas. This is much better for you if you make it with one tortilla and do it as a casserole

This is a great Zola to Go! dish, perfect for those cold days for lunch.

This is going to taste just like a traditional enchilada without the tortilla. If you have Mexican food fans in your family this is a hit!

If you are going totally low carb you can serve this over lettuce. Bib lettuce would look nice.

This is super easy to make and comes together in about 10 minutes. Just be sure to have everything prepped so you can enjoy the cool guacamole with the hot shrimp on top.

Great on a hot day or evening. Lite dinner with family or guests. Can be served totally cold if that’s more convenient.

The design of this dish is for fancy food for a hot day. You can make this much simpler and less expensive by using less expensive seafood and fish options.

This is a Mexican-style sauce. The sauce is definitely served cold and makes a great contrast to warm fish. You can also do this with chicken if you prefer.

The dish is QUICK. EASY. Brunch for dinner maybe? Or this can be a fun breakfast or lunch, too.

Dieter and KLSS Star 106 DJ Harry O stopped by Plan Z headquarters this weekend. Harry, who's lost 150 pounds on Plan Z, brought with him a fantastic lasagna recipe. It tastes just like the homemade version we all love, but without the additional carbs

You don’t even have to cook to make this dish! It’s just pick apart a chicken, chop up the veggies and stir the ingredients together. If your teenaged kids like Mexican, let them make this one!

I was shocked. I have made this casserole so many times in so many variations -- I had no idea I had never typed it up to share with all of you! I am going to give you one version here but I’ll also editorialize a bit and give you other options to experiment. This recipe is so easy it comes together in under 15 minutes and then you just bake to heat it. A novice can handle this one for sure…and a busy parent can get a kid-friendly recipe on the table fast.

A good old American favorite with a Mexican twist.

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare. You can make it in batches so you get several servings and it travels and reheats in a microwave easily. Mexican food lovers in your family will love this. It's not very spicy. You can always add hot sauce to fire it up.

My husband declared he wanted Mexican one night. That’s a challenge with Z2. This is not the prettiest dish I have ever made but it was quite tasty and satisfied his craving for Mexican.

This dish doesn’t have to cook long to bring you a hearty Mexican stew. It comes together in a flash. This also heats up brilliantly in the microwave at work.

My favorite way to eat this is just out of a bowl with a fork. That’s why I call it a chicken enchilada bowl. You can also serve it over romaine lettuce.

This makes a really nice Mexican Mole. It’s authentic. It has a lot of ingredients but don’t let that intimidate you. It’s really very easy to make.

When I was young I loved going to Chi Chi’s and ordering the chimichanga. Now that I know all the carbs from the tortilla it was wrapped in are a bad idea, I decided to make a lower carb casserole version.

When you get into the second portion of ZReboot you can start to experiment with a little more carbohydrates. Try this at week 4 – 6 of ZReboot and see how you do.

I invented this casserole as a “Plan B” option. I went to the store thinking I was going to make stuffed poblanos but the chilies were all so small I just bought a bunch of them and went home.

Efrem says, "I was really missing my Mexican food and wanted to recapture the tastes and flavors of some of my favorites, so I came up with this recipe."

Efrem says, "This is a really easy to make, great tasting guacamole to accompany any Mexican dish.

A great side dish with any grilled or roasted meat.

This is another really simple Mexican staple. Again, fresh vegetables are key to a really great tasting salsa. Can go with meats, poultry, or even fish.

Serve over salad greens or as a side dish.

This is mild, full of flavor and a huge hit around my house. It would also be wonderful served with a steak or a meaty fish, too.

This is a great dish on a hot night. Perfect for the novice cook. Also good enough to invite company over or make this for a new date you are trying to impress.

The design of this dish is for fancy food for a hot day. You can make this much simpler and less expensive by using less expensive seafood and fish options.

Be creative. This is a zingy, zippy sauce. Leave out a chili if you want it less spicy. You could even take this sauce and serve it with simple, grilled chicken. Big YUM

For today’s recipe we’ll concentrate on a “green theme”. This is March and St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon. Lots of folks wear green and some like to eat something green to celebrate.

You can serve sauce in a ramekin and dip your chicken. You can drizzle it over the top or you can pour it over. This is a firey-hot sauce so be careful not to scorch your taste buds.

This lovely Mexican dish can be made mild or spicy. There’s a fresh marinade (a quick one) and a fun sauce.

If you are familiar with adobo chicken. you will recognize it as a full-flavored Mexican dish. Not all Mexican food is spicy. This is pretty mild but packs flavor punch.

This is an amazingly easy dish to make. On a diet like this Mexican or South American food would not normally be possible but this tastes authentic and has no rice or potatoes.

You can do this recipe in kebab form but I took a different twist and did the grilling in a grill basket.

Fans of Mexican food will love these. Easy to make and perfect for heating leftovers. Give them a try.