CHICKEN FAJITAS
•Peppers, and onions, and chicken……oh my! These easy fajitas have a mild spice with a great lime and cilantro kick. Serve with some re-fried beans or rice and of course, a couple cold beers.
I’m sure it’s my many years of dealing with the health department and my fear of cross contamination that I feel it necessary to give an exhausting bit of detail here. At work we have color coded cutting boards and an industrial dishwasher that washes and sanitizes in 5 min. At home I don’t have separate cutting boards for meats and veggies, but I do have plastic cutting boards that I sanitize in the dishwasher after every use. Also watch your knife, never cut meat then veggies using the same knife. I make sure that I cut the veggies first, set aside in a bowl, then cut the meat using the same knife and cutting board….ok speech over.
Wash, slice and mince the onions, garlic and peppers. Set aside in a bowl. In a seperate bowl add the cilantro, zest and juice of the limes, and the 1 tsp of hot sauce-set aside.
Slice the chicken breasts into thinnish strips. Add 1 tbls vegetable oil to a large skillet heated to medium high heat, add chicken. Season with 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp seasoning salt and pinch of red pepper flakes (optional) and saute until the chicken is brown around the edges and no longer pink inside-10-15 min. Pour the chicken and all of the pan juices into a bowl and set aside.
Heat the same pan you cooked the chicken in back to medium high heat. Add 1 tbls vegetable oil and the peppers, onions, garlic-saute for a couple minutes until they start to soften. Add in 1/2 tps seasoning salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and the 1 tsp chili powder-mix in well and cook for another minute.
Pour in 1/2 cup water and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the flavor (called deglazing the pan-all of the brown crusty stuff stuck to the pan is pure flavor).
Add back in the chicken and any juice in the bowl, the hot sauce, the lime juice, zest and cilantro.
Bring to a bubble (adding the other 1/4 cup water if needed), cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 min♥Enjoy
•Tofu can be substituted for the chicken. I would suggest tossing strips with a little oil, seasoning salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and baking in the oven 375° until crispy around edges. Only cook the veggies in the pan. Follows all of the same directions above and add the tofu at the end before you cover and simmer.
