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I just wanted to say a few things about these José Olé taquitos after having made this casserole and eaten it for lunch for three days in a row.
First of all, I was impressed with the taquitos. They had a really good flavor and were quick to cook. They did turn out much better in the air fryer than they did in the microwave, which is to be expected. But let’s look at those ingredients first:
The major surprise for me here is that there is no salt in the tortillas! I expect salt in everything these days, but traditionally corn tortillas are made without it, so this was a nice surprise. These strike me as fairly authentic tortillas.
Now for the filling: I was confused in the video because these contain both beef and ground beef. I left it out of the video but the “beef” is actually shredded beef. There’s not a lot of it, to be sure, but the filling is on the thin side in these things anyway. And that’s okay.
I really don’t have any issues with any of these ingredients. I’m fine with textured vegetable protein, which is in a lot of products and we’ve all eaten it. Some people may have issues with the disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate, but these are just flavor enhancers along the lines of monosodium glutamate. There’s nothing wrong with them just like there is nothing wrong with monosodium glutamate (other than they all contain sodium). Both disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate are produced by fermentation, just like soy sauce, which explains how they add a bit of umami flavor to things. They are typically referred to as “I & G” and in fact, you can buy them from the internet:
That’s a bit pricey for me (and at this point in my life, that is likely far more than a lifetime supply) so I’ll pass for now. But there is some indication that I+G might help reduce the sodium content of processed meats and their ability to enhance flavor has been tested with an electronic tongue. The more you know!
On to the nutrition. Let’s look at those nutrition facts:
They’re not really all that bad. These aren’t a nutrition powerhouse, but I don’t expect them to be. The issue I have is the serving size. Three of these just aren’t going to be enough. Remember, I ate the three I cooked in the air fryer, the three I cooked in the microwave, and then went on to eat a bit of this casserole. Three did not fill me up, but six (plus salsa and sour cream) just about did. If I ate six of these, I would get 480 calories, which is about a fourth of what I should be eating in a day. But I would also be getting this:
- 30% of my daily fat
- 32% of my daily saturated fat
- 8% of my daily cholesterol
- 30% of my daily sodium
- 20% of my daily carbs
- 18% of my daily fiber
- 22% of my daily protein
When you look at it that way, these are actually pretty good numbers. Pair those with some fat-free refried beans and a bit of salsa, and you’d be doing all right.
Interestingly, the José Olé company is owned by Ajinomoto, a Japanese company whose original product was monosodium glutamate. You can visit the José Olé website here, where they also have recipes. This one looks especially good, so I may try making that in a future video.
