When it comes to following a healthier lifestyle, your focus must be on quitting bad eating habits and starting a constant exercise routine. Of these two aspects, eating may be the one that can give you a hard time and this vegan Mexican rice recipe may be just what you need..

At first, it could seem too difficult since you have to think twice before going to the store and even going out to enjoy international food. Before getting so stressed, you have to be aware that the base of any life change, whatever big or tiny, is planning.

The first step is to know the type of food available to make a nutritious menu. With this information, you could start creating your healthy daily meals and your time in the grocery store will be easier. This also will help you when visiting some restaurants to try your preferred food, because you will identify the preparations you could eat to stick with your new lifestyle.

Knowing nutritious food

A nutritious food comprises all aliments giving your body all the needed nutrients for working properly. These aliments must provide vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, high-quality protein, and dietary fiber.

In other words, you must include in your new diet the following ingredients:

  • Rice.
  • Fruits.
  • Vegetables.
  • Legumes.
  • Nuts and seeds.
  • Unsweetened dairy products.
  • Eggs.
  • Fish.
  • Lean meats.
  • Grains.

Those you must avoid are:

  • Sugar.
  • Caffeine.
  • Junk food.
  • Soft drinks.
  • Refined food.
  • Saturated fat.
  • Baked sweets.
  • Salt.
  • Processed and high-fat meats.

Remember the word “planning”, it will be the key to success in this new change in your lifestyle. Take a pencil and a piece of paper and with the above data, start making your healthy menu. Do not go too fast, begin little by little, make a few changes in your eating habits, and incorporate new recipes as you get expert day by day.

For making the process more interesting, include some international dishes in your plan, and discover you can easily incorporate new healthy flavors into your life. In this way, the experience will be more enjoyable and bearable.

Discovering Mexican cuisine

Contrary to general knowledge, Mexican cuisine has plenty of healthy food choices. Forget about the greasy and copious dishes you have seen in some restaurants like burritos, fajitas, tacos enchiladas, among others. These are the most popular Mexican meals worldwide, but they are not the unique options you have.

Mexican gastronomy is all about colorful and flavorsome dishes. They use tons of vegetables, herbs, condiments, spices, and particularly spice chilies for making most of their meals. Besides all the popular dishes known worldwide, vegan Mexican rice offers a huge repertoire of healthy preparations maintaining the typical Mexican flavor.

Cooking healthy Mexican meals

As you have already made a decision to change your eating habits, this is also a good opportunity to learn how to cook new recipes and increase all your food options in a nutritious way.

Some dishes in Mexican cuisine will be very helpful during this process. This type of cuisine is very friendly with the use of nutritional ingredients since it incorporates fresh vegetables, grains, legumes, lean meats, flavored with herbs, and spices.

You will be surprised by the quantity of healthy Mexican dishes. The easiest way to go would be with known ingredients like rice, for instance. Rice is a staple in Mexico, so you will find endless preparations with it. Find a recipe for Mexican rice and start a successful path in healthy living.

Baked Vegan Mexican Rice

Ingredients (6 servings):

  • 2 cups of long-grain white rice.
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
  • 1 cup of tomato sauce.
  • 1 finely chopped white onion.
  • 4 chopped cloves of garlic.
  • ½ finely chopped red bell pepper.
  • 1 diced jalapeño pepper.
  • 2½ cups of vegetable broth.
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder.
  • ½ teaspoon of dried oregano.
  • 1 teaspoon of salt.
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin.
  • ¼ cup of chopped cilantro.
  • Lime juice.

Preparation:

  1. First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (150 degrees C).
  2. Rinse rice until water is clear.
  3. In an oven-safe bowl, pour olive oil and rice, and stir very well.
  4. Incorporate onions, garlic, red bell pepper, chili powder, jalapeño pepper, dried oregano, and salt. Combine all components.
  5. Pour tomato sauce and vegetable broth.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes and check the rice, put a lid over the bowl and continue baking for 15 more minutes.
  7. Before serving squeeze lime juice all over the rice, and add chopped cilantro.