Healthy Recipes From Around the World - Mexico

By WLR's sarah massey and laura meads

This time we are visiting Mexico for a yummy chili con carne recipe and a scrumptious fajita, refried beans and salad combo. If the mere mention of Mexican food has your mouth watering, WLR dashes to the rescue…

Classic Mexican recipes contain some foods that should wear a healthy halo but there are also some little devils lurking about in the ingredients.

Although guacamole is made from superfood avocado and helps towards your fruit and veg intake, it is really high in calories. If you’re on a low calorie diet (1200 calories a day) treat it with caution. Why not go for slightly more salsa instead, which is much lower in calories and still helps towards fruit and veg intake.

Cheese also features in a lot of Mexican recipes. High in both calories and fat. Try doing without or opt for one of the low fat versions in your supermarket. To make sure you’re not going way over your calorie intake, run it through the WLR food database and check out the calories before adding it to your meal.

When you fancy a chilli con carne for dinner, make sure you opt for lean or extra lean mince, brown it with no extra fat in the pan and make sure you drain any excess fat once it has been browned.

Swap chicken for beef in Enchiladas and Fajitas. A beef fajita has an extra 265 calories. And, instead of eating 3 or 4 fajitas, go for one with some refried beans and a salad to make it a healthy but filling meal.

We have taken two classic Mexican recipes and made them lower in calories and fat but just as tasty.

Here’s your shopping list and method for the Chilli Con Carne recipe.

Here’s what you need and how to make your delicious, low calorie Fajita, Refried Beans and Salad dish.