Lighthearted exhortation - I still love a lot about Texas, but there's a lot going wrong there. Was basically playing with you a little very very very indirectly alluding to the "Don't Mess With Texas" slogan :)

Very well explained, I think. Don't discount the Native American contributions, too!

Some of the dishes of Tex-Mex:

• Chili con carne
• Fajitas
• Nachos
• Hard-shell tacos
• yellow chile con queso (Mexican uses white cheese, Tex-Mex uses yellow cheese)

Also, interestingly, the entree-with-rice-and-beans is also Tex-Mex.

It's wild that people dismiss the cuisine as some sort of lesser thing. It's just how food works - ideas spread, ingredients spread, people create new things that stick around and BAM you have a new cuisine. :)