Mexican food

Meat-heavy dishes are a mainstay of Mexican cooking. But spurred by health and environmental concerns, working-class Mexican-American chefs are giving traditional dishes a plant-based makeover.

Arroz con pollo, or rice with chicken, is a dish beloved in much of Latin America. But in the South, it's morphed into ACP, a cheese-smothered phenomenon that built Mexican-restaurant empires.

Oaxacan restaurants are offering diners an alternative to the ubiquitous Coke by selling Zega-Cola, an artisanal soda made in small batches nearby. Its maker hopes that will translate into local jobs.

Migration from the Sonoran region of Mexico tends to flow almost exclusively to this part of Arizona. So its distinctive cuisine remains a hidden treasure. But that is changing.

Jocko Fajardo grew up in Arizona eating Mexican food. But his go-to comfort dish is a Chinese-American classic with a little Mexican thrown in. He tells us how the dish came to his family.

On his bilingual food blog, Esteban Castillo shares traditional and fusion Mexican recipes. The blog has a stunning, minimalist aesthetic meant to challenge the way people see Mexican food.

Fruity, sweet, spicy and salty all at once, this frenzied treat for your taste buds takes many forms — from sauces to seasonings to candy. And its journey from Asia to Mexico took hundreds of years.

The cookbook Nothing Fancy, first published in 1984, has just been re-released — and is the closest thing to a memoir that the formidable "Julia Child of Mexico" has ever written.

Plans to expand the border crossing could bulldoze over a longstanding market where many food vendors have made their living — and in some cases, their homes — for years, if not generations.