Vegetables and Side Dishes

Side dishes as such are not as deeply ingrained in the Mexican meal structure as they are in the United States. Mexicans cook a lot with vegetables, but that doesn’t usually translate into a big selection of vegetable accompaniments to a meat entrée. Things are starting to change a little with the increase in travel. But the major vegetable dishes of Mexico — for example, beans — have traditionally been much more than accompaniments. In Veracruz, as everywhere else in Mexico, beans are the pillar of the meal, not a little something to go with it. Since pre-Hispanic times, they have been a more fundamental part of the diet than verduras (garden vegetables), and they are almost always black beans.