Do On The Border Salads Match Big Burrito?

When it comes to Mexican food, very few of us are fortunate enough to get the real deal. The world of menudo, barbacoa, chilaquiles, tortas ahogadas and all the other vast panoply of true Mexican cuisine is largely unknown unless you make the effort to seek out smaller, off-the-beaten-path establishments.

For most of us, what we find in "Mexican" restaurants is about as true to its origins as Chinese (and most other Asian) restaurant food was 20 years ago. Instead, what we get is Tex-Mex or, more frighteningly, Americanized versions of Mexican dishes. Do you really think someone in Juarez makes catfish tacos or Potato nachos?

There's actually nothing wrong with good Tex-Mex. It's hearty fare, and the spice level is usually about what the average American palate can dance with. The variety, even within the traditional taco/burrito/enchilada framework, is fairly broad, and it's almost always one of the more reasonably priced restaurant adventures.

Naturally, as with any ethnic cuisine that's so widely popular and so easily prepared, chain restaurants have popped up all over the landscape purveying Tex-Mex food. One of the leading names in the business is On The Border, so we'll look at one of the lighter items on the menu as compared to the biggest, baddest burrito on offer. Specifically, we'll match the Sizzling Fajita Salad against the Big Bordurrito.

First up, the green stuff:

Sizzling Fajita Salad (chicken): 760 calories, 48 grams fat, 2,080 mg sodium, 23 grams carbs.

Think Tex-Mex food is all about tortilla-wrapped meat and beans drowning in cheese sauce? Think again. One of the core elements of Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking is grilling, and grilled meats especially. Fajitas, one of the iconic dishes, are grilled beef, chicken or pork. The fat comes in largely from the add-ons such as guacamole, sour cream and, of course, cheese.

Another source of calories and fat is the tortillas that are used for easy eating. Almost every culture has something like the tortilla: a quick, simple flatbread designed to be filled in some way to make a portable, filling meal. Take the tortillas away from the fajitas, and you've got some relatively low-impact meat that needs nothing more than a suitable serving platform.

It didn't take long for some profit-conscious restaurateur to throw some salad mix in a bowl, top it with fajita meat, toss some guacamole, sour cream and cheese around the sides and call it a fajita salad. The thing is, if done properly, it's actually quite tasty. This salad missed the mark a bit until the smoked jalapeño vinaigrette went on, whereupon all the flavors of the fajita meat (a bit on the dry side, but tasty), pico de gallo and guacamole started to dance. The salad mix was fairly nondescript, but all in all it was a satisfying entree.

Big Beef Bordurrito: 1,600 calories, 103 grams fat, 2,790 mg sodium, 119 grams carbs.

The great thing about a burrito is that a creative mind can come up with just about anything to wrap up in that gigantic tortilla. OTB goes in a different direction, seemingly wrapping up everything in the tortilla, with beef, rice, cheese, black beans, caramelized onions, red peppers and sour cream sauce all rolled in a flour tortilla large enough to cover a small city.

The result is somewhat mixed, just like the ingredients. The fajita steak is really excellent, with a spicy kick that's very pleasing and would have made this the clear winner were it not almost completely buried by the rest of the filling. The tortilla itself was nicely light and crispy on the outside. The beans were unremarkable, and the onions tasted more sautéed than caramelized. They lacked the sweetness that proper caramelization imparts. The red peppers promised on the menu were not in evidence at all.

All in all, while neither dish was perfect, the salad was the clear favorite. Take into account the fact that it packs less than half the calories and fat of the burrito and the choice becomes even easier.