Lighten up favorite Mexican recipes

Imagine a steaming plate of enchiladas, stuffed with shredded pork and melted cheese, smothered in salsa verde and sour cream, and served with a hot stack of fresh corn tortillas.

Then take away the pork, the cheese, the cream and half the tortillas.

¡Caramba!

If Mexican food is made “light,” does it still really count as Mexican food?

Yes, it does, say Latino community activists and health officials. In fact, it must.

Latinos in the United States are experiencing surging rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic health problems associated with nutrition. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly 12 percent of Hispanic adults in the United States have diabetes – the seventh-leading cause of death in this country – compared with 7 percent of whites.

“In Mexico, we walk everywhere, and here we drive everywhere,” explained Josie Enriquez, a native of Mexico and case management supervisor at the nonprofit Yolo Family Resource Center in Woodland, Calif. “In Mexico we eat rice, beans, vegetables, pasta and we eat meat twice a week. Economically, we don’t have money to buy more, but it’s a good thing for us because we’re healthy.

“When we come to the U.S., we have a little more money, and we still eat Mexican, but we eat fiesta food (like tamales and mole). And with the lack of exercise, the pounds start to add up.”

The biggest health-wreckers in the traditional Latino diets are saturated fat and salt, said Monica Randel, a registered dietitian at Kaiser Permanente, in Sacramento, Calif. Getting those two culprits largely out of the diet, she explained, is “probably the biggest step.”

Professional health educators and volunteer moms take that message to community centers, grocery stores, farmers markets and festivals around the state.

A key tool in the educators’ kit is a cookbook full of healthy recipes and tantalizingly colorful food photos, produced in collaboration with home chefs. It features such dishes as corn-spinach casserole, shrimp ceviche with cucumber and avocado and baked taquitos.

A new edition of the cookbook featuring even more traditional recipes – think pozole, chilaquiles and sopes – debuts this month; free downloadable pages soon will be available at www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cpns/Pages/Recipes.aspx

Here are examples of how the Network for a Healthy California and its volunteer home cooks are reimagining traditional Latino recipes in a new cookbook. Those who make dietary changes will notice differences in their health and energy after three weeks, dietitians say.

Chilaquiles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves 4, 1 cup per serving

Top with eggs for a tasty breakfast dish, or try it as a snack.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

1/3 cup chopped onion

3 cups chopped tomatoes

2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

Eight 6-inch corn tortillas, each cut into 6 wedges, crisped (see note)

1 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar and Monterey jack (Mexican blend) or Cotija cheese

Optional topping: chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Spray a large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray. Add onion and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until lightly brown, stirring often.

Stir in tomatoes, peppers, garlic, oregano and salt, and cook for a few more minutes.

Pour mixture into a blender container, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and blend until smooth.

Place mixture back into the saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add crisp tortillas to saucepan; cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Sprinkle with cheese, then cover and let stand for a minute or so more to the melt cheese.

Serve immediately, topped with cilantro, if you like.

Note: To crisp tortilla wedges, spray on both sides with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in a single layer at 425 degree for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.

Pozole

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Serves 4, 1 cups per serving

This is a great recipe to make for birthdays or other special occasions.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

1 pound lean pork, cut into small cubes

1 cups chopped onion

2 cups canned reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided

Two 8-ounce cans no-salt-added tomato sauce

4 dried ancho chilies, stemmed, seeded and torn into strips

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cups canned hominy, drained

Optional toppings: shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, chopped onion and dried oregano

Instructions

Spray a large pot with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add pork, turning to brown all sides.

Add onion and cook for 5 more minutes to brown onion.

Put 1 cup broth, tomato sauce, chilies and garlic in a blender container and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Blend until mixture is smooth. Add mixture and remaining cup of broth, cumin, oregano, and hominy to the pot.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Serve hot with cabbage, radishes, onion and dried oregano, if you like.

Tip: This dish is even more flavorful served the next day. Add a little water or more broth if you like a thinner pozole.