Fajitas

Long Time, No Write

Mrs. Clark has been absent from the kitchen! Well, not exactly, but absent from writing. Mrs. Clark has been waaaay to distracted lately by basketball games and the sort and pitch process that is leading to an upcoming move to a newer house. However, the time has come to put forth some food thoughts, so here goes.

I had a wonderful opportunity to write about the delicious stir-fry I made with friends this evening, but I was so enthralled with eating it that I completely forgot to take pictures. So, what to write about? Well, it is Pi Day so maybe I should write about pie. No, holding to the "distracted" theme, I think I will write about something completely random, yet one of my favorite foods, Fajitas! I like these with chicken or beef and loads of flavorful veggies.

Beef Fajitas

Beef or Chicken Fajitas

Serves 4

8 flour tortillas (7 inch)

1 Tbsp. lime juice

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ground coriander

¼ tsp. dried oregano

¼ c. Italian salad dressing (not reduced fat)

1 red, green or yellow pepper, cut into strips

1 small onion, halved and sliced

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced into bite size pieces 

or

1 lb. sirloin steak, thinly sliced into bite size pieces

shredded cheese

salsa

sour cream

1.  Wrap tortillas in foil; heat in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.

2.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine lime juice, cumin, coriander, and oregano.  Stir in chicken or beef.

3.  Pour salad dressing into a large skillet.  Preheat over medium high heat.  Add meat mixture.  Stir-fry for 2 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, remove meat from skillet.  Add pepper and onion to empty skillet and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Return meat to skillet; heat through.

4.  Spoon mixture onto warm tortillas; roll up.  If desired, top with cheese, sour cream, salsa.

A little bit more . . .

I always do the prep work first, before I even begin with the instructions below the recipe. What do I mean by prep work? All the cutting directions in the ingredient list. So, I juice half of a lime, cut the pepper, the onion, and the meat. By the way, I prefer to use part of a green pepper and part of a red or yellow one. It gives a little more color variety and just plain tastes good, too. If there is only a green pepper on hand then that is what I use. 

Now, I am ready to proceed to wrapping the tortillas and popping them in the oven before seasoning the beef or chicken. Cumin and coriander provide a little smokey flavor and really create a wonderful aroma in your kitchen. 

Here's where this recipe changes it up just a little. The meat or chicken is cooked in a bit of Italian dressing instead of oil. The dressing is oil, but it gives some great flavor. If you have Italian dressing in your fridge, use it. If not, you can use oil, or you can mix a little oil with some lemon or lime juice and use that. Cook the chicken till there is no more pink. If it is cut in thin strips, it won't take long at all. If you are using beef, a little pink can remain. 

Once you remove the meat, add the veggies and cook quickly, just until they begin to soften. Do not overcook. Drop the meat back into the skillet. Cook and stir, just to get everything combined.

You might have noticed the above fajitas pictured also contain some tomatoes. Everything is just a little bit better with a tomato, if you ask me! I add the tomatoes at the very end of cooking the veggies. Don't cook as long as the other veggies or they will turn way too soft and juicy.

Bring it all to the table with the tortillas and enjoy! You have a nice amount of veggies, some nice lean meat and with a whole grain tortilla or two you have a very nutritious and speedy dinner. It is always a winning combination which makes me smile.

A little more fun . . .

Look what my friend Pam made last week and brought to a fun event. Do you see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? You might have to stand on your head or flip your computer upside down!

Strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries and a purple grape, too.

The yummy dip is simply a jar of marshmallow cream mixed into an 8 ounce package of cream cheese. Yes, every rainbow needs a bit of a cloud. 

A bit of refreshing fruit like this would be very nice along side the fajitas.