Have you ever found yourself sitting staring at your dinner ingredients and you are just not motivated to make the normal staple? Well, I hope I'm not alone because last night was one of those nights. I had bought a couple of packages of chicken breasts for stir fry and I usually turn them into a tasty lunchtime chicken salad - and for those who follow me on Instagram/Facebook or Twitter, you will know how delicious those salads look. Actually, if you're interested in one, check out my "Turkey Salad GetRealLive Style." It is so yum! You can find it on getreallive.com
Back to my dinner dilemma ... as I stood staring blankly into my fridge, searching for something to jump out at me, some motivation and something that would accompany my chicken that would satisfy my family, I found myself coming up empty. With the weather being unseasonably warm today, I didn't want anything too heavy or labour intensive. As I scanned the contents of the refrigerator I found myself wishing that I had picked up an Old El Paso fajita/burrito/taco box. You know the one - it contains everything you need to create a taste of Mexico in your own home. Of course, you need to buy the lettuce, cheese and sour cream, in addition to the box of El Paso, but other than that the box provides the taste.
Being on our "ChangeTheAge" (for more on that check our website) program I decided that I didn't need help from El Paso, rather I would create the seasoning on my own and make a fajita that I knew my family would love. I jumped online and found a recipe on Jamie Oliver's site. It was Jamie's Chicken Fajita's with homemade Guacamole and Salsa. I quickly scanned the spices that he used and read about his guacamole and decided to take a few elements of his recipe and make my own.
So here it is ... my own fajita creation (for pictures and more healthy, great tasting recipes jump on getreallive.com).
Fajitas GetRealLive Style
Coconut Oil
400 Grams Chicken (preferably breast prepared for stir fry)
1/2 Onion, thinly sliced (could be white or red, whatever your preference)
1 Capsicum (red, yellow, orange - your preference)
1 Avocado
3 Tbsp. Plain Yogurt
3 Small Tomatoes (or 1 large)
1/4 Chopped Red Onion
1 Lime
Lettuce
Shredded Cheese
Fajita Spice:
Cayenne Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Chipotle Chili Pepper
Ground Cumin
Turn on oven on so you can be prepared to warm your fajita/burrito/taco wraps. Melt coconut oil in pan. Add thinly sliced onion and sauté for approximately one minute. Add fajita spice, to taste (mine was approximately 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp. chipotle chili pepper, 1/2-1 tsp. cumin) and just make it your own.
Add capsicum and then drizzle half of the lime over the onion/spice mix. You know your family's taste, so play around a little. You might need to add a little more coconut oil - you don't want the onion and spices to get dry. Sauté for 30 seconds to one minute, then add chicken. Because you are using coconut oil, you can use a higher heat than normal so turn up your flame/element so the chicken sizzles when it hits the pan.
Cook well on both sides (try not to overcook) for approximately one minute each side; turn down heat and let it sit and soak up all the flavour in the pan. Scrape pan and get the onions mixed well with everything.
Note: You could marinate all of this beforehand, which is what I will probably do next time. I would just keep a bit of your spice mixture to cook with the onions because spices are always best when cooked in combination with the onions (not sure why, but it is yum!).
While the chicken is resting in the warm pan, smash the avocado in a bowl and add 4 Tbsp. of PLAIN yogurt and mix. Chop tomatoes, place in a bowl, chop red onions and add to the tomatoes. Squeeze the other half of the lime over this mixture, stir and sprinkle a tiny bit of salt over the mixture to draw flavours out.
Take warm wraps out of the oven and spread with the avocado/yogurt mixture. Take a piece of chicken out of the pan and slice it. Place it on top of the avocado/yogurt and then add salsa, lettuce and cheese.
Wrap, serve and enjoy! Next up, I'll learn to make the tortilla ... I hope!
Susan J Sohn
getreallive.com
susan@getreallive.com
