Las Iguanas Chipotle Chicken Burrito at Home from Iceland [@NLi10]

 I like Mexican food and it pays to have a few instant cook things floating around for lazy evenings (or hungry lunches) so I paid the £4 each for a pair of Las Iguanas brand Chipotle Chicken Burritos from Iceland on a recent trip.

They are frozen, and a decent size/weight so I figured worth a go

There is a lot inside, and it doesn't pretend that it's two portions which is nice

Looks pretty unexciting

But once microwaved it actually smells pretty good.  I mean- for the price/effort anyway.

Its a decent light meal, and could easily have a few nachos and dips on the side to convince yourself that it's more of a big deal.

The meat is meaty, and the sauces are mild but tasty.

I'm spoilt (living in walking distance of one of the best Mexican restaurants in the UK according to all the prizes) but at a pinch this'll do nicely.  Especially with a really spicy dip on the side.

Fiesta EATZ - Chilli & Lime Nuts & Hoops [@NLi10]

 Aldi had a mexican week a little while ago so I picked up some odd minty corn chips which I wasn't a fan of - but also these Chilli & Lime nuts & hoops from the same Eatz. range that I've loved.

Originally supposed to go alongside my Cineworld Unlimited pass I just left them on my desk and ate them while working.

As usual they are air-packed to enable the hoops to survive the journey.

Inside it's 41% peanuts, 23% Cashew, 14% almonds which means the remaining 32% is crunchy corn hoops and coating which is an excellent ratio.

The flavours are stronger than the Doritos nuts I'm reviewing on Thursday, and have a much more interesting lime too.  The variety of nuts is pretty unexciting on paper, but they work incredibly well and these will not last much longer at all - I've had to ration them.  The fact that each pour has a variety of textures and tastes really works well and I'm sad that unless I'm quick I won't get a 2nd bag.

Tortilla - Burrito meets Burger - Beef Smash Burrito [@NLi10]

 We had time before a show in Birmingham (the band Texas) so decided to take the family for Burritos.  Most went with a standard set of things, but I decided to try the new Beef Smash Burrito

Smash is essentially just taking a burger and cooking it on the grill as if it was mince and then putting it back together a bit - it just means that its all a bit more charred.  This is essentially how you cook Quorn mince so it's not exactly revolutionary but it is nice.

And there are loads of options!

It also seems to basically be a beef burrito but where the contents were grilled first

I got the meal deal with the nice lemonade and the salty salty tortilla chips.  These have a fun texture too like they are freshly made each day.

The large is a chunky beast and certainly filling enough

And sure enough is essentially just a beef Burrito with crispy mince.  You can customise whatever you like, but the default smash was pretty good.

Al La Mexicana needn't be worried about their business, but as an updated and healthier version of the Subway custom sandwich (and nicer hot) then this is great and I'm happy that I joined the loyalty scheme for the free guac and burrito next time I visit!

Gran Luchito Mexican - Zingy & Tangy Tomatillo Salsa [@NLi10]

Seeing as we have one of the UKs most highly rated Mexican restaurants on our high-street we've been eating authentically a lot more often.  Consequently I crave these flavours more when we make our own wraps.

I picked this up at one of the dog shows (bizarrely, but they do have a farm shop on site)  and have been slowly adding it to things.

First up - it looks authentically terrible and only the gentle smells entice you in.

Goo on ingredients!

And for my personal tastes it's almost too mild! I think that a medium would have suited us more.  That said this does have the deep flavours that I'd now associate with a trip up the road, but not quite the blend that they have.

So - not a substitute for A La Mexicana, but a nice thing to have at home to add to a veggie burrito or two.

Proppadoms - Poppadoms Done Proper - Jalapeno @myfamilysecret (by @NLi10)

My partner looks out for little snack things on her travels and picked these up from a garden centre I think.  I assumed that it was the same people as the proppercorn, but this is a whole new company to try out which is even better. 

It's what you'd expect - take a more interesting version of the crisp, add a more interesting twist on the flavour and then let it rip!  Only 25 g here so it's very much a portion, but we'll forgive them for that.

And look at all those ingredients! Almost all sound like things you'd cook with which is always a good start and they are based in Cradely Heath near us - and Dublin too!

And they certainly look like mini poppadoms, and they seem to have survived well in transit due to being a little thicker than the ones we get from the lovely restaurants of Bearwood & Cape Hill.

It's just a glorified crisp really, but they are incredibly tasty.  The Jalapeno is familiar, but not boring - and certainly isn't too powerful.  It's like someone's put Mexican starter dips out instead of Indian ones.  This in itself is an exciting combo, and coupled with the lovely rich poppadom itself makes for a very compelling snack. I expect these to end up winning those little award badges you see on all the good luxury snacks before long.

My advice is to get these into pubs and sell them (to me) alongside a nice selection of beers.  Fantastic stuff, and interesting enough that I saved the second bag of a different flavour to try a bit later just like this! 

 

Jarritos pop/cola & Mexican food (@NLi10)

 There's a pretty new Mexican place that's opened within walking distance of my house.  Run by a Mexican family and visited by lots of people familiar with the area, it's this odd little cultural oasis in our very Asian neighbourhood.  And I love it.

They also import (or aquire from people that do) genuine Mexican snacks & drinks to go with their ingredients so I can work through the Jarritos rainbow one bottle at a time.

For starters I chose Mandarin.  This is one of those flavours that just doesn't show up in English snacks - just one kind of Orange for us.  We occasionally get Satsuma which is basically the same, but here we have the real deal.  It's sharp and exciting, and goes really well with the deep fried nachos starter.

And look at that lunch-time main.  Egg and Chorizo - I forget the real name.  So many lovely flavours with just the right amount of kick to keep you going.

Naturally I got a bottle to take home too.

Mexican cola is a delight - much closer to the Fentimans flavours than the English pop.  

Sure - it's still just water and flavourings but it's at least exotic water that's actually been to Mexico (unlike me).

Maybe I can persuade my partner that I should go fetch us a delivery for this evenings tea...

Co-op Lightly Salted Veggie Tortilla Chips - for dinner! (NLi10)

We don't get out much these days - what with the plague and everything - so we are having to recreate some of the decadant treats we'd normally have at home.  One of these is the 'crisps for dinner' starter that you get/got at Chiquitos and similar.  Essentially the kitchen pour some sauce on some tacos and stick them in the oven for a bit - we can do that at home!

And yes - I know we've talked about this before - but now the co-op have presented us with options.  These aren't so much vegetarian (which they are) but vegetable flavoured corn chips.  If you've had the tricolour pasta then you know what to expect as it's the same Spinach & Beetroot dust that's used here.  Ace!

As a half a bag portion - with cheese, guac' and sour cream this works well for one person.

I was supposed to do my own portion with the quorn mince salsa mix that I prefer but I had something else that evening and we ate the rest of the bag while watching the film. 

A great fun alternative to plain chips & dip, and technically it might even contain some vitamins this way.

Great (until you run out of films on the streaming service anyway!)

Wahaca Mexican Street Food Meal Kits - Mojo (by @NLi10)

In the UK there is a TV programme called The Last Leg, and sometimes it's a bit London-centric.  They (well Josh Widdecombe mostly) occasionally referenced something called a Wahaca.  On further inspection this appears to be a small chain of restaurants which haven't appeared in Birmingham yet.  I can only presume that their previous mentions of Nando's have proved so profitable that they have branched out (can't blame them - sometimes I get great PR goodies!).

Cut forwards a few months and work have a huge box of food arrive as part of some online deal where managers get things to give out (result). This includes three varieties of Wahaca meal kits and I happened to snag all three (double result).

I've started off with the green/beginner one as it's handy to know what you are dealing with.  I also didn't have any fresh ingredients to add to the mix so it's a bit 'bachelor chow' - but I did make it with Quorn so my partner could eat it too.

Makes 10 tacos, serves four people.  I guess with the added extras this would have been possible.

Like other meal kits you have separate bags, you put them into the hot places in order, you eat.

Unlike other meal kits you can crack out the tiny, tiny luchadores and justify how much you spent on them.  I've not seen a kit with the yellow corn tortillas or a green salsa so I was quite looking forwards to this.

Step one is marinade the meat or veg, but with quorn defrosting in the sauce as you cook tends to get the best flavour.  I'd usually do this covered too as it prevents the quorn drying up too much (and the luchadores from doing spots off the utensils).

And here we see the finished, unfolded results.

Granted, with shredded lettuce and tomatoes and cheese (we did use cheese just not in the pictures) this would look more impressive, but it's still fairly exciting.  The mixture made just about 8 of these size tacos, so you could stretch that to 10.  I did eat 5 of these (and the remaining 2 tacos).

The flavour of the marinade and quorn was strong but not that spicy, all the heat in this kit was in the amazing green salsa which you could adjust easily for any non-Mexican fans.  The salsa popped and really brought the taste buds alive.  I'm worried about what the three chilli box will do, but the two chilli box should be fine.

The course textured tacos were a pleasant change from the old el paso style soft flour tacos, and gave the meal a different complexion to what I was expecting, adding bite where the quorn would usually lack some.

Good enough to add Wahaca to my computers spell check so it stops changing it to whacked, and definitely enough to continue up the strength scale of the boxes.  And next time i'm forced to make a pilgrimage down south to the capital I'll try and pop in to try the real deal.

Well & Truly Gluten Free Tortilla Chips (by @NLi10)

So - a fairly basic unboxing video revealing a lovely nest that my cats are still sleeping in, and a bag of gluten free chips. Now - I'm pretty sure that anything that is purely corn is gluten free, but I'm betting that some people will hide wheat and other things in their varieties of this product so the declaration is at least reassuring if not useful to me.

What is useful is the recipie.

I'd never sit and eat a bag of chips, even the flavoured versions - these are for sharing or with a meal - and for that you need a dip.

We take an avocado that appears to be the right freshness, and hit it until mushy with the chopped chillie (as provided) and some lemon juice (didn't have lime) and some sun dried tomatoes because they are zingy and amazing.

As usual it doesn't look up to much.

And here is the product! The bag is pretty clear, the chips survived their postal adventure well and we have back up squirty dip for use if needed.  Our home made dip was amazing, so we didn't need that El Passo dip, but we did also have one of their enchilada kits as the main.

The chips were crispy and had the warm, corn flavour you'd expect. They were thick enough that you didn't feel like you had a bag of crisps, and the saltiness I mentioned in the video is muted by using them as intended with the dip. It's a lovely mix and something I'd certainly consider again.

I threw a few on my main course too, which added an extra texture and covered for my lack of cheese. I also added some home made guacamole to the last few bites which worked well.

A good excuse to have a more varied Mexican night, and a great thing to keep around for a party snack with the suicidal avocados that seem to go brown when you least expect it.

A decent staple version of a classic, with no added nonsense to get in the way of cooking with them.