Fajita Time*

Fajita Time!

I know you've all been posed the question (and I have no idea where or when, but somehow I myself have had to answer it many times thus far in my relatively short life) "If you had to pick one thing to eat every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?" And while I would hate to be required to pick just one thing (since I can't really live on chocolate alone, but certainly can't live without it either...oh the angst!) This meal would be one of my top contenders. I love fajitas that much. But not just any fajitas- they have to be good. Really good. And that is what this week is all about. Toss out the store-bought seasoning packet and the 50 for $1 bag of tortillas. I'm going to show you a flavor-packed marinade and grilling method today, and on Wednesday Kate will be doing a cooking class on making homemade tortillas. I promise once you make your own (which is a lot easier than you may think) you won't want to buy bagged ones at the store ever again! I'll be ending the week with another component, so make sure to keep checking in. I can almost guarantee this will be one of your favorite meals as well. 

Kate and I both use the same marinade. Our mutual friend Mel first shared it with us (thanks Mel!), and since then I've seen it floating around on the internet from several different sources, so it's been around and maybe some of you use it too. I've tried a lot of marinades for fajitas and this is by far my favorite. For whatever reason, it just has the perfect combination of all the right flavors.

We've got: 

cumin, onion powder, salt, pepper, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, liquid smoke,
chili powder, cayenne pepper, fresh lime juice, garlic, and jalapeños. 

Fajitas Marinade

1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/3 C water
2 T vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
3 t vinegar
2 t soy sauce
1/2 t liquid smoke* (I personally always add about 2 t)
1 t salt
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 t onion powder
optional: minced jalapeños, depending on how hot you like it (The original recipe calls for Jalapeños, but I never put them in, and apparently Kate doesn't either, so they get a big fat "optional!")

*If you're not familiar with liquid smoke, you can find it near the bbq sauces in a small bottle (you can see it in my picture above). And please don't make this without it! It's definitely one of the key components. It makes things yummy and smoky and super flavorful. And if you're wondering, it actually is real smoke in liquid form. Interesting, eh? 

For the Fajitas:
-Boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large ones). Steak is also great.
-Bell Peppers (about 3 large ones) I always use Red, Yellow, and Orange because they're the sweetest, but you can use whatever you like. 
-1 Onion. In my pictures I used a white onion, but I prefer a red one just because the color looks so great in there.
Now this is a marinade. I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you all know how to use it. Mix all that stuff up and place in a zip-lock bag. Before you put the meat in, reserve a little marinade to use when cooking. Then toss in the chicken or steak, and bell peppers and onions. Marinade for at least 4 hours, but longer if possible. Then grill outside on the bbq, or indoors on a skillet (cast iron is best) or grill pan. Use the reserved marinade as you cook. You know the rest!
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Now if you care to know, I'm going to explain the method to my fajita madness. Here's what I do: 

1. I usually double the marinade, or 1 1/2 it because I have this weird thing where I like to see my meat swimming. Once it's all combined, immediately reserve about 1/4 cup, and set it aside.
2. I then butterfly my chicken, or pound it thinner, because that increases the marinade-to-chicken ratio!
3. I toss all of the meat in the bag of marinade, but leave the peppers and onions out. Only reason being that I usually want all of the marinade for the meat (see above weirdness), and the veggies get a splash of it at the end with the marinade I reserved. But if you have enough marinade, go ahead and do the veggies too.
4. I slice my onion into about 1/2 inch slices, and leave the slices in tact. Then I quarter the peppers.
5 When they're ready to grill I toss the veggies with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.

One of the things I love most about fajitas are the gorgeous colors!

As said before, you can make this in a skillet, or a grill pan inside, but I love it best on the grill. Everything goes on the grill at the same time. Cook until the chicken is done (be careful not to overcook, especially if you pound it thinner like I do) and the peppers and onions should have nice grill marks and a little charring, like this:
When everything is finished cooking start slicing.
Now here's a problem I notice with meals like this. When I serve everything separately, it never gets finished at the same time. We're always left with extra veggies and no chicken, or vice-a-versa. For this reason, I like to slice everything (veggies and meat) into equal sized slices. I toss it all together in a large bowl with the marinade we reserved at the beginning, and a big handful of chopped fresh cilantro. Then I put it out on a big platter. It makes serving so easy because you can just grab a big tong-full and get some of everything. 

Serve in tortillas alone, or with all the fixings: Black Beans, Guacamole, or diced avocado, Pico de Gallo, Sour Cream etc. 

Now in honor of Fajita Week, everyone leave a comment and say something in Spanish!
(And yes, you can totally make it up :)