Chicken Fajitas-The New Taco Tuesday

I suppose it could be Fajita Friday? I suppose they don’t have to go and usurp another day? But let’s be honest, this chicken in kickin’ and it can have whatever day it wants. Enjoy them on any day that begins with a “y”, this simple recipe packs a punch and is sure to please. There is a reason it has been on a regular rotation in my house for years!

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How do I Fajita?

Who doesn’t have the memory of going to your favorite Mexican food restaurant…or Chili’s? Waiting for your order to come out, but dang it, somebody has done it. Somebody has ordered the fajitas. The only meal that seems to get a parade. The servers come out in a line carrying tortillas, toppings, and finally that sizzling platter that gives the whole restaurant menu envy.

It seems surely, something with so much pomp and circumstance could only be made under the eye of a top chef? But no! Not at all, the fajita is a brilliant and simple meal that leans on the natural flavors of a few simple ingredients under simple preparation. So, how do you do it?

For a the basis of a good fajita you only need a protein, a seasoning, and bell peppers and onions. Now, my introduction to fajitas as a child was McCormick’s spice packets, which honestly, are fine. However, for only a small amount more effort (and ultimately less money) you can kick your fajitas from fine to exceptional.

For this recipe you start by making the marinade. There is no magic to this, chop your garlic, chop your cilantro or parsley, add your seasonings, oil and juice and mix. Go on, you can do it! Heck, if you didn’t feel like chopping, you could honestly throw everything to a blender and blend. The appearance would change slightly (it would take on a greenish hue from the cilantro/parsley) but the flavor would be mostly the same.

You’ve got your marinade, now add your protein. For this particular recipe, I use chicken. That’s why I’ve labeled this chicken fajitas. If I am making steak fajitas I adjust the recipe slightly, but honestly there is no reason you can’t use steak. I have even done this recipe with cauliflower for a vegetarian option that was excellent. You could use tofu (I haven’t tried it, but go for it) or fish or shrimp-although it might be a bit strong for a whitefish. Ultimately, its your dinner, have fun!

For best results you want to marinade that protein for a while. I prep my meals on the weekend, so if I’m having fajitas during the week all the vegetables will be cut and the chicken will be marinading on Saturday. I leave it in there for days and its great. If you don’t like to think that far ahead or you just suddenly got a mad craving and you need fajitas NOW, no worries! Just try and let the chicken sit for about 30 minutes at least to have an opportunity to absorb some of that flavor.

For the vegetables-a julienne cut! A julienne is a matchstick cut and it is one of the simpler cuts to do on peppers and onions. If you don’t know how to do it, there are tons youtube videos (I hope to make some of my own eventually) and I will include a link. The goal is to make the peppers and onions all roughly the same size. This is so that when you are eating them there is a balance of flavors (you aren’t chewing on a massive chunk of onion while the tiny pepper pieces fall through the cracks) and so that everything cooks evenly.

If you are making this all day of, once you get your chicken marinading cut your vegetables. If you’re prepping ahead, all of this can be done on the weekend so that all you have to do is just cook.

Cooking Fajitas

Here is where this recipe is quite a bit different from others I’ve seen. I cook my proteins separately from my vegetables. A more common approach is the one pan approach. Slice your chicken or whatever protein you’re using raw and add it to the skillet then add the vegetables.

This isn’t a bad way to do it. It is simpler, you get all the flavors mixed together. You have fewer dishes when you are done and if you have meat hounds in your house, it makes the meat stretch further. For plenty, this is the preferred way to cook and I support that. However, it’s not how I like to do it.

I cook my meats separate from my vegetables. Here is why:

1. You don’t have to deal with cutting raw meat. Whether a steak or chicken breast, I marinate whole and cook whole and then slice after cooking.
2. More control of cooking meats. This is particularly true with steak fajitas. I like my steak cooked to medium rare-when you slice a steak and cook it on a skillet it is really difficult to maintain that temperature control. I like my chicken to still be juicy-it very quickly cooks to a dry and rubbery texture.
3. More control over vegetables. Just like the meats, I want my vegetables to a very particular level of doneness. I want them to be tender, but still have just a little bit of crispness to them. I want them to just begin to caramelize which brings out a lovely sweet flavor. When you cook them with meat, the meat determines when you are done and the veggies are along for the ride. In addition, the meat adds moisture to the pan which can inhibit the ability of the vegetables to caramelize.
4. The vegetables can stand on their own. I love the natural flavors of ingredients. I probably underutilize seasonings for this reason. But I think that natural flavor of peppers and onions, cooked to perfection with just a hint of salt and pepper is just a brilliant flavor. When you add a marinated meat you also add all fo the seasoning from the marinade. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you loose a little bit of the standalone fire that is these simple cooked vegetables.
5. You can use a grill. I love a grill. I love grilled foods. It is really challenging to cook meats stovetop and get that same flavor and texture which is particularly good for fajitas. Heck, if you’ve got one of those grill-top skillets (I don’t have one) you could even do your veggies on the grill-just separate from the meat.
6. It allows variety. You can do a fajita smorgasbord with a big mix of veg and then a variety of different proteins. To be honest, this goes back to more of my catering days-I have no idea why somebody would do this at home unless you’re trying to impress somebody.
7. Surely that’s enough. Surely I’ve made my point. All I’m saying is this is how I do it. Do what you want…it’s your food

Should you decide you’d rather cook everything together in one pan, here is the basics of how you do it. For less of a mess, cut your meat before you put in the marinade. Turn the pan on the a medium-medium high heat. Cook your meat until it is as done as you want it, or just slightly less done than you want it. Remove the meat, put it on a plate.

Now the veggies. Wipe out the pan (or don’t if you want the veggies to have the flavor from the meat). Turn up to about medium high to get that good sizzle. Add a bit of oil and all the veggies at once. Season with a dash of salt and pepper and stir or shake the pan every couple of minutes. Don’t just sit there stirring, you want to leave them alone so they can develop some color. When the veggies are cooked, return the meat to the pan long enough to heat back up, stirring everything together, and WAH BAM! Fajitas!

Cooking it my way: This requires a bit of multitasking, but it actually forces you to leave the vegetables alone while they cook (this can be really challenge for some people).

To start, turn on the grill to medium high heat and allow to come warm all the way up. Make sure you clean the grill with a grill brush as its warming up. When the grill is just about warm, put a large skillet on the stove at around medium to medium high heat. Add about a tablespoon of a neutral oil (such as avocado).

While your skillet is heating up, add your protein to the grill. Close the grill, walk away. I recommend taking a minute to wash the dish you marinaded in. That should give just enough time for the skillet to fully heat up. Add all your cut veggies together at once. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir or shake to coat. It should be sizzling, that’s great-resist the urge to babysit and mess with it. Leave them along for at least a minute, maybe a bit longer, before you shake or stir them.

This is a great opportunity to go give your meat a quarter turn (if you want those perfect grill marks, if you don’t, leave it alone). If you are using a chicken breast, depending on the thickness, it will need to cook for about 2-3 minutes per side.

While the meat is cooking, give your veggies a stir or shake every 1-2 minutes. Overall, they should take approximately 5 minutes, but they are done when they have developed some nice caramelization around the edges, are soft and tender but not mushy, and have a sweet flavor. Remove them from the heat, but you can leave them in the skillet until you’re ready to serve. I actually recommend pulling the skillet off the heat when the veggies are just a tiny bit undercooked and then leaving them in the skillet to stay warm and keep cooking until you’re ready to eat.

Once your meat is done carry it in on a clean plate (don’t use the same dish you marinaded it in, unless you’ve washed it!). Allow it to rest for about 2-5 minutes and then slice and serve!

A Few Tips for Excellence

First off, if you are grilling your fajitas you can also grill tortillas! In fact, I recommend grilling tortillas to warm them up. About 10-15 seconds per side will give you warm soft tortillas that taste like they were freshly made.

I also recommend, if available, get a good quality tortilla. If you have a local restaurant that makes their own tortillas they will sometimes sell you just tortillas. They cost a bit more and are a bit more of a hassle to get, but honestly, you’ve spent all this time and energy on beautiful meal, but it in a wrapper worthy of your efforts.

To build, I start with a tortilla, add some sliced chicken, and then a hefty portion of veggies. Finally, add any toppings and enhancements you like. I feel just some fajitas is a complete meal, you’ve got your carbs, fats and proteins. But, if you want the more restaurant experience, go ahead, add some rice and beans.

Toppings! Some of the fun of fajitas is building your perfect fajita. I like to keep it simple, some avocado, chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. My husbands likes to throw some hot sauce up on it. If you like more of a sloppy fajita, add some cheese and sour cream. You can even throw some beans up on that business! Heck, maybe you got a mango salsa, maybe you want to get weird with it and add a chutney. Maybe you’re an aspiring chef of haute cuisine and you want to get creative with some jalapeño jelly. Do it, have fun!

But a quick note on toppings which hold true for any meal. Fajitas can be healthy. At their heart they are lean proteins with fresh vegetables. You can serve them over greens instead of a salad and they because gluten free, low carb, paleo, keto-cut the salt, add more citrus, now they’re heart healthy! I mean, damn! So if you are eating them because they are healthy, be wary of toppings. Toppings add up and can quickly add hundred of calories of fat and sugar and salt. People often, with all the best intentions, plan a healthy menu and then forget all those sauces and topping tend to not be so healthy.

So there you have it, beautiful weekday fajitas to rival any restaurant and sure to please the whole family!