Going Veggie

[thestrangequark]

Oh, I know the food he's talking about too, but it's only as Mexican as chop suey is Chinese. Tex Mex is heavy and cheesy, but it's such a tiny and Americanized twist on Mexicab cuisine that it really shouldn't be seen as representative. Real Mexican food is hugely diverse, blending the traditional cooking of hundreds of indigenous peoples with Spanish and French influences. It would be a bummer to dismiss the wide variety of Mexican foods as cheesy and stodgy.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I love Mexican food. Not at Taco Bell, which I can't stand. But at a real sit-down Mexican restaurant.

I also love margaritas. Repeatedly.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Most people wouldn't know real Mexican food if it walked up to them and said "burrito!"

 

[Amaris]

While I love a good sit-down Mexican restaurant, I probably wouldn't know authentic Mexican food either (I live in Ohio). Taco Bell doesn't even qualify as "food", much less "Mexican food". I'm not sure how authentic it is, but we have a Mexican restaurant that serves everything from scratch, from the tortillas to the pico de gallo, and it is so good! I love fresh food, and am not a fan of heavy foods, and this restaurant only serves the heavier stuff if you ask for it specifically. Otherwise, everything is fresh veggies, and such.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Also, "Tex-Mex" is an inaccurate term for most stuff. Qualities that people attribute to Tex-Mex are really Santa Fean.

The excessive cheese thing, for example: Santa Fe was the major trade hub between the French and Spanish for almost two centuries. The French would bring all their cheeses down and put it on everything.

Pico de gallo is another good example. "Real" Mexican Pico is much saucier and less aromatic. The chunkiness and excessive cilantro were also French things.

And there's a lot of other stuff that people call Mexican but isn't really Mexican at all. It's Pueblo.

 

[Amaris]

I like to call it delicious. I love strong foods.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I love strong foods too, that would be my main food requirement.

Sometimes when I'm eating stuff other people have made I find it incredibly bland and tasteless because if it was mine I would have put a lot of herbs or chillies or lime or cracked pepper or garlic or..

 

[lurok]

As we don't have Taco Bell, the nearest thing most people get to a chain TexMex experience in UK is Chiquitos, which is the classic salty/cheesy/heavy burrito type of place. But at least (nerd alert) it brought together Simon Pegg & Nick Frost, so there's that to be grateful for .

My fave mexican place in London is Taqueria , which is more like Mex tapas and bloody good! Some of the best Latin/Central American food I had living in LA wasn't Mex/TexMex but Salvadorean and Ecuadorean, anonymous little places in strip malls.

And for teacake, some Yotam Ottolenghi fresh coconut recipes. Yum.

 

[Relayer1]

I would never go to a 'certain' UK Mexican. They nearly killed my sister in law - seriously, they put her in hospital.

 

[bigdaddy]

I'm late to the party, but I LOVE food. If you are looking into replacing a ground meat, like turkey and beef, with a vegan replacement, tempeh is awesome and mixed in with some nuts and stir fry it or cook like normal ground beef for tacos is amazing. And flax seeds are a super food.

 

[Amaris]

I love strong foods too, that would be my main food requirement.

Sometimes when I'm eating stuff other people have made I find it incredibly bland and tasteless because if it was mine I would have put a lot of herbs or chillies or lime or cracked pepper or garlic or..

Two of my favorite seasonings are garlic and pepper. My family gets annoyed, because I will garlic the hell out of my food, and they can smell it from across the room. I can't help it, I like strongly seasoned food!

Also, curry. I love curry.

I'm late to the party, but I LOVE food. If you are looking into replacing a ground meat, like turkey and beef, with a vegan replacement, tempeh is awesome and mixed in with some nuts and stir fry it or cook like normal ground beef for tacos is amazing. And flax seeds are a super food.

Firstly, you're not late to the party, because the party's still going, and secondly, I'll try that, thanks!

 

[CorporalClegg]

Tim Curry? He's spicy.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Tempeh is great but I never cook with it because it is stupid expensive here and I'm not one to want meat replacements as far as feel and texture. I eat tempeh at hippy cafes sometimes, had some nice wraps with it.

 

[Amaris]

Tim Curry? He's spicy.

Indeed he is.

 

[bigdaddy]

Tempeh is great but I never cook with it because it is stupid expensive here and I'm not one to want meat replacements as far as feel and texture. I eat tempeh at hippy cafes sometimes, had some nice wraps with it.

We have Whole Foods in the USA, I bought it it for 50 cents off a pack. But the packs are half a pound, 8 ounces, and normally cost $3.

A friend made a great meal with it, that I copy. It's onions and garlic (and whatever other veggies you want, snap peas are good), tempeh and nuts mixture roasted to a nice crunch, then shredded potatoes, rinsed well, dried off then roasted to the point you couldn't tell it's a potato.

You cook up some noodles, I like Udon (Spelling?), add soy sauce, then mix in the veggie mix. On top you add the potato, tempeh and nut mixture. It's awesome and really filling.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

That sounds extremely good. I love udon noodles too. And that style of food is so flexible, pretty much do anything with it.

 

[bigdaddy]

Yeah udon noodles are amazing. Somehow the potatoes come out like bacon bits, I'm not sure how, but they are so good.

 

[lurok]

mmm...soba.

+ this (apologies for meat content)
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WrkdTrrwew[/yt]

 

[Into Darkness]

I was vegetarian for 3 years and then about 2-3 month ago I relapsed and ate a kebab and ive not given it up again yet. :-/

 

[Sector 7]

I was vegetarian for 3 years and then about 2-3 month ago I relapsed and ate a kebab and ive not given it up again yet. :-/

Come to the Dark Side, we have meat.

A few of us here are not Veggie people, solely. I am an Omnivore, but enjoy learning about food. So, here I am.