Our Vegetarian Mexican Night Recipes (Including Baby Menu Recipes)!

Hello All,

Hope you’re well!

We had friends over last weekend and I decided to go with a Mexican themed evening for us and for Arjun (see his meal recipes at the end).

It’s the first time since Arjun I’ve properly sought out recipes and mixed and matched a few to create my own.  It was so rewarding as the meal turned out delicious (if I do say so myself!).

It’s the first time I’ve made homemade guacamole, salsa, cheesy corn on the cob, Mexican spicy mixed potato wedges and churros! So it was a day of learning and I was so pleased with the result!

Quite a few people have messaged me to ask about recipes for the food after I’d posted pictures of our meal so I thought I’d give it a go.

I didn’t get many pictures as I didn’t realise at the time I’d end up sharing the recipes, but if you have any questions, give me a shout!

STARTERS

I made nachos but cheated by using ready made ingredients!

Feeds: 6

Ingredients:

• A large packet of lightly salted tortilla chips
• A jar of mild salsa (use hot if you like extra heat)
• Jalapenos (to taste)
• Generous amounts of cheddar and mozzarella mixed cheese
• A little dried thyme

Method:

1. Space out the tortilla chips on a lined over tray and top evenly with the salsa.
2. Scatter jalapenos (to taste) and top with generous amounts of cheese before sprinkling a little thyme.
3. If going for super loaded nachos I also add sour cream, guacamole and some red onions in layers.
4. Place in the oven on 180°C for 10 minutes keeping an eye to ensure they don’t burn.
5. I usually put the grill on for a few minutes on high heat at the end to brown the cheese slightly.

MAINS

Mixed Bean Quesadillas

The great thing about quesadillas are the mix can be prepared in advance so there’s less to do when your guests arrive.

Feeds: 6

Ingredients:

For the bean mix:

• Sainsbury’s four bean salad (includes peppers, mixed beans and sweetcorn)
• A tin of black beans
• 1 small red onion
• Half a red bell pepper
• Green chilli to taste
• Red chilli powder to taste
• Salt to taste

Other:

• 6 tortilla wraps
• Sour cream
• 240g grated cheddar cheese
• Spinach (optional)

Method:
Bean mix:
1. Dice up your red onion and red pepper in to fine cubes.
2. Add the four bean salad and the black beans in to a bowl and also add in the red onion and red peppers that you’ve just chopped.
3. Finely shred the green chilli and add to the mixture.
4. Finally add the red chilli powder and salt to taste.
5. Mix well.

Quesadilla:
6. Place a tortilla wrap over a piece of foil and paste a layer of sour cream.
7. Then add some roughly chopped up spinach and a generous layer of the bean mix to half the tortilla
8. Finally, add a generous amount of cheese before folding over the wrap so that you end up with a semi circle
9. Fold over the foil around the edges
10. Place the quesadilla in a sandwich press for 5 minutes and then flip around.
11. Check whether the tortilla is cooked by peeling back the foil to check that it’s slightly browned.
12. Once browned, it’s ready.
13. Cut in to three pieces.

Cheesy Corn on the Cob

These are absolutely delicious and went down a treat! I’ve never tasted anything like them so it was refreshing to try some new flavours.  They complimented the meal really well.

Ingredients:
• 8 mini corn on the cobs
• 4 tablespoons Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
• A dash of olive oil
• 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 90 g parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Wrap the corn on the cobs individually in foil and place in oven at 180°C. Let them cook for about 30 minutes or until they are slightly browned.
2. Meanwhile, place the mayo into a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, the zest from the limes and the juice from one of the limes. Mix well.
3. Spread the mayo onto a plate, then dust with the cayenne pepper and put to one side.
4. Set the parmesan on another large plate.
5. Once the cobs are cooked, roll each cob into the lime-spiked mayo, before rolling into the cheese. Shake off any excess and voila!

Homemade Mixed Potato Wedges
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1kg medium potatoes scrubbed (I also mixed in some sweet potato as they are Preetam’s favourite!)
• Sea salt
• 2 onions finely chopped
• A handful of chopped coriander

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line base of a large baking dish with non-stick baking paper. Combine spices in large bowl. Add oil and mix well.
2. Cut each potato into 6 wedges, add to bowl and toss to coat with spices.
3. Leave in fridge for a few hours so flavours infuse in to the potatoes.
4. When ready to cook, arrange potato wedges in a single layer in a large baking dish. Sprinkle generously with sea salt.
5. Bake for 45 minutes until tender and crisp.
6. Top with combined onions and fresh coriander and serve.

Guacamole

Most recipes tell you to make it fresh I actually preferred the taste after letting it set in the fridge for a few hours.  The ingredients seemed to infuse a lot more and taste a lot more “together” than before
• 1 large ripe tomato
• 3 avocados, very ripe but not bruised
• Juice 1 large lime
• Handful coriander, leaves and stalks chopped, plus a few leaves, roughly chopped, to serve
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 chilli, red or green, deseeded and finely chopped

Method:

1. Use a large knife to chop the tomatoes in to fine cubes, then tip in to a bowl.
2. Halve and stone the avocados (saving a stone) and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into the bowl with the tomato.
3. Tip all the other ingredients into the bowl, then season with salt and pepper.
4. Use a fork to roughly mash everything together.
5. If not serving straight away, sit a stone in the guacamole (this helps to stop it going brown), cover with cling film and chill until needed.
6. Scatter with the coriander

Salsa

Ingredients:

• 250g fresh tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 mild chillies, finely chopped
• Bunch coriander, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste
• 1 lime juiced, to taste

Method:

Mix well and serve.

DESSERT

Churros
This is one of my all time favourite desserts! And as you all know, my favourite thing ever is Nutella! So I decided to scrap the tradition of chocolate sauce with churros and instead use slightly melted Nutella.  It tasted amazing!  Lots of people have asked for this recipe, they are surprisingly so simple to make!

Ingredients:
• 50g butter, melted
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Boil the kettle, then measure 350ml boiling water into a jug and add the melted butter and vanilla extract.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a big mixing bowl with a big pinch of salt.
3. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the contents of the jug and very quickly beat into the flour with a wooden spoon.
4. Rest until it’s time to serve.
5. When ready to cook, fill a large frying pan one-third full of oil.
6. Heat until a cube of bread browns in about 1 min.
7. Cover a tray with kitchen paper and mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together.
8. Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag, 1.5-2cm wide is a good size.
9. Fill with the rested dough, then pipe strips directly into the pan, snipping off each dough strip with a pair of kitchen scissors.
10. Fry until golden brown and crisp, then remove and drain on the kitchen paper-lined tray.
11. Carry on cooking the rest of the dough in batches, sprinkling the cooked churros with some cinnamon sugar as you go.
12. Once you’ve cooked all the churros, toss with any remaining cinnamon sugar and serve with Nutella.

ARJUN’S MEAL

Naturally Arjun was going to also get his Mexican fix!  I went with a bean quesadilla and a corn on the cob for him to provide a well balanced meal including protein, fat, carbs and some vegetables.

Baby Mixed Bean Quesadillas

Ingredients:

For the bean mix:

• A tablespoon of Sainsbury’s four bean salad (includes peppers, mixed beans and sweetcorn)
• A tablespoon of black beans
• 1/8 of a small red onion
• 1/8 a red bell pepper

Other:

• 1 tortilla wrap
• 25g grated cheddar cheese
• Spinach

Method:

Bean mix:

1. Dice up your red onion and red pepper in to fine cubes.
2. Mash up the four bean salad and the black beans in to a bowl using a fork
3. Add in the red onion and red peppers that you’ve just chopped.
4. Mix well.

Quesadilla:

5. Place a tortilla wrap over a piece of foil and add some roughly chopped up spinach and the bean mix to half the tortilla.
6. Finally, add the cheese before folding over the wrap so that you end up with a semi circle
7. Fold over the foil around the edges
8. Place the quesadilla in a sandwich press for 5 minutes and then flip around.
9. Check whether the tortilla is cooked by peeling back the foil to check that it’s slightly browned.
10. Once browned, it’s ready.
11. Cut in to small pieces.
Baby Cheesy Corn on the Cob

Ingredients:
• A mini corn on the cob
• A dash of olive oil
• 1/4 lime
• 90 g parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Wrap the corn on the cobs individually in foil and place in oven at 180°C. Let them cook for about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the olive oil, the zest from the lime and the juice from the limes in to a bowl. Mix well.
3. Spread this mix onto a plate.
4. Set the parmesan on another large plate.
5. Once the cobs are cooked, roll each cob into the paste, before rolling into the cheese. Shake off any excess and voila!

Good luck! Would love to hear how you find these recipes! x