Foods of Different Ethnic Groups

Spice up your dinner with an ethnic food dish.

Eating the same type of food night after night can get quite boring. If you are looking to spice up your dinner and expand your palate, consider serving your family food from different ethnic groups. A vast array of cuisine is available from different ethnic groups around the world. Seeing and tasting dishes various ethnicities create with the same or similar ingredients can lead to new-found favorite food discoveries.

Mexican Food

Serve up some enchiladas for dinner.

Mexican food is often heavily flavored with chili, garlic, onion and tomatoes. As an appetizer, serve tortilla chips with salsa, guacamole or melted queso for dipping. Choose from a variety of entrees such as tamales, which consist of masa stuffed with marinated meat, usually pork; posole, which is a soup incorporating hominy and pork; or enchiladas, which are rolled tortillas stuffed with meat or cheese with a spicy chili sauce poured on top. Dessert can include sopapillas or flan, a Mexican custard drizzled with caramel sauce.

Indian Food

Indian food is often heavily spiced with rich flavors.

While most traditional Indian food is vegetarian, many dishes feature meat such as chicken and lamb. Indian food incorporates fruits, such as coconut and mango, and a variety of root vegetables. Food is often heavily spiced with curry, cardamom, chili powder and cloves. Most Indian dishes are served with rice, particularly basmati rice. Indian food is traditionally eaten with your hands

Chinese Food

Children will have fun learning to use chopsticks to eat Asian food.

Chinese food dishes usually feature rice or noodles and are heavily loaded with vegetables. For protein, many Chinese dishes use tofu, fish and eggs, as well as most any animal meat. Beijing roast duck served with pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and hoisin sauce is one traditional Chinese dish. Serve your family a lo mein noodle, sauteed vegetable or chicken stir-fry if you are looking to explore Chinese cuisine.

Greek Food

Serve a Greek salad with feta cheese and olives.

Greek menus feature appetizers such as spanakopita, which are spinach stuffed phyllo triangles, or dolmades, which are rolls of grape leaves stuffed with rice. Traditional Greek entrees feature grilled or roasted meat, usually lamb, and side dishes such as salad with feta cheese, tomatoes and olives or pilafi, a Greek-style rice. A famous dessert from this region is baklava, which is layers of phyllo dough filled with nuts, cinnamon and honey.

References

• Yasou: Greek Food
• Indian Recipe: Authentic Indian Food Recipes from India
• China Travel: Staples and Main Food Types
• Mexican Food Recipes: Mexican Food and Mexican Food Recipes

Resources

• "Better Homes and Gardens": Ethnic-Inspired Casserole Recipes