Steak Fajitas and Margaritas!

 

It was Cinco de Mayo yesterday, which totally trumps Meatless Mondays.

I mean, we had to have a Mexican inspired dinner.

Yes, we had to. Absolutely imperative.

And yea, I kind of wanted to make margaritas.

Christopher was slightly skeptical when I said I was going to make margaritas.

He’s not the first person to feel this way. And let me let you in on a little secret. Most people who wrinkle their noses at margaritas do so because of a bad experience with that sickeningly sweet sour mix we’ve all had in bars at some point in college.

Put down the sour mix. And don’t even think about buying margarita mix.

I’m about to change your life.

To make an absolutely delicious margarita, you just need to make your own simple syrup.

Which, as the name implies, is super simple.

One cup of water and one cup of sugar go in a pot.

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The heat goes to medium and you stir until the sugar is dissolved into the water

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That goes in the fridge and is the base for your margarita.

When it cools down, fill a glass with ice and add one ounce of tequila, the juice from two limes and 2 ounces of sour mix.

You can salt your rim or not, as you prefer. The guacamole, however, is not optional.

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Okay, onto the fajitas. Because as amazing as margaritas and guacamole are, it’d get a sloppy in here without some real food.

I was on drink duty, so Christopher cooked.

Drizzle some olive oil in a pan and toss in 1 white onion and 3 red bell peppers, julienned. Season with salt and pepper and let them cook down.

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Meanwhile, slice hangar steak into bite-sized chunks and toss onto your grill pan. Season with vegetable oil, salt and pepper. The steak cooks fast. Only a few minutes on each side.

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When the steak’s don, toss it in with the peppers and onion.

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Assemble your fajita. Guacamole, shredded cabbage and the steak mixture was our combo of choice.

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Fajitas and margaritas.

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Life is good.

Fajita Night

I love Mexican food for many reasons. First, of course, is for the taste.

The fresh crisp vegetables, the creamy avocado, the spices. Such great textural and flavor combinations. Cool sour cream against the heat of a chili. Soft tortillas and crunch peppers.

The second reason to love Mexican is how fast you can get dinner on the table when you do a Mexican night.

We make tacos a lot. Tons of variations, too.

But I haven’t made fajitas in a while.

You can buy a kit at the store, but you can just as easily make your own. The kit doesn’t save you much time any way – it really just puts the spice packet and the tortillas in the same box.

I made chicken fajitas, but you can use any kind of meat you want, or you can go vegetarian with it. Maybe add some black beans for the protein. Or tofu. If you’re feeling daring.

So you will need

  • chicken breast
  • 3 peppers (any color, I used green because they were cheapest), diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • vegetable oil
  • taco or fajita seasoning (it’s in a packet- it’s premixed with all those great flavors)
  • toppings as desired (I made my avocado yogurt dip and then added some shredded cabbage and cheese)

Preheat the oven to 400.

Place the chicken breasts on a foil lined baking dish. You want something with sides so the oil and spices won’t drip when you take the pan out (yes, I’ve made a mess of my stove before).

Drizzle some vegetable and some of the seasoning mix over the chicken. Add more if you want more spice and less for less. Totally up to you.

Pop the chicken in the oven and let cook until the juices run clear. You can also cut it open and check the coloring since we’re just going to shred the chicken later.

While the chicken bakes, add some vegetable oil and the diced peppers and onion to a pan.

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Sprinkle over more of the seasoning mix. Stir and let cook until the veggies are soft.

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When the juices are clear and the pinkness is cooked out of the chicken, remove from the oven and slice it up into bite size pieces.

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Add the shredded chicken to the pot of veggies, stir and let the mixture cook together. For a bit of extra flavor, pour the oil collected in the pan from the chicken into the pot. It adds some more fat and juice to the dish, which is on the light side.

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Last, but not least, assemble the fajita. Some avocado yogurt sauce, followed by shredded cabbage, then by the veggie and chicken mix and topped with cheese.

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That’s the third great thing about Mexican night. It’s assemble your own meal. It’s like those R.L Stine Choose Your Own Adventure Goosebumps books!

Except, you know, you won’t meet a mad scientist or a flesh-eating zombie if you make the wrong turn.