Simple and Yummy Chicken Fajitas

Sometimes simple recipes end up being my favorites. Tonight’s recipe came out of the fold out section at the end of Fine Cooking that has simple, quick meals that work great for weeknight dinners. What I love about a simple recipe like this is that I’ll probably never pull this recipe out again, but I’ll use it as a building block for quick dinners in the future. This recipe has just a few ingredients and the method of cooking it is very simple which makes it great for making it your own. You could easily use a variety of additional ingredients including yellow and green bell peppers, black beans, avocado slices, diced fresh tomatoes, and so on. There are so many options and I think that any twist you take on it will be delicious!

To make the chicken fajitas we sprinkled the chicken with the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. I’ll be honest here… I didn’t measure them all out into a small bowl. When it comes to recipes like this one I tend to not measure the ingredients. I just gave them a good sprinkling on each side of all the spices and then Russ grilled them on the Egg. We used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs because that is what we had on hand. I put the sliced onion and red pepper in the skillet with a little oil and let them cook for a couple minutes until they were soft. I added a little salt and pepper to them while cooking. Next time I’ll add the red peppers first as they need a little longer than the onions need to soften. Once they are soft you add the garlic, cumin, and chili powder. I didn’t measure again, but just added a nice sprinkling of the cumin and chili powder. Once the chicken came off the grill, Russ let it rest and then cut it into strips on the bias. I heated the tortillas and then we filled our fajitas with chicken and the red pepper and onion mixture. I realized at this point that I had not added the lime juice, so I just squeezed a little lime juice over the fajitas. We topped them off with a little sour cream and the shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

These were incredibly flavorful and tasty. I liked the warmth from the cumin and chili powder and the nice fresh flavor that the lime juice added. While I think cooking the chicken in the skillet would work just fine, I did enjoy the grilled flavor from the Egg. These came together really quickly and worked well for an easy weeknight dinner. As I mentioned before we will definitely make a variation of these again! Russ rates the fajitas a 9.

Chicken Fajitas with Red Pepper, Onion, and Lime, Fine Cooking
Serves four.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder

1-1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1-1/2 to 2 lb.), trimmed of excess fat

2 Tbs. canola, vegetable, or corn oil (I used canola)

1 very large or 2 medium yellow onions, quartered and thinly sliced crosswise (about 4 cups)

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into strips about 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs. fresh lime juice

Twelve 5- to 6-inch corn tortillas

1-1/2 cups crumbled queso fresco or grated Monterey Jack cheese

Mix 1 tsp. of the chili powder, 1/2 tsp. of the cumin, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a small bowl. Season the chicken on both sides with the spice rub. Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the chicken without disturbing, except to flip, until both sides are browned and the chicken is firm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes per side. If it browns too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Transfer the thighs to a cutting board and let them cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, just until the vegetables begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the remaining 3/4 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the lime juice. Transfer to a bowl, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm.

Cut the thighs on the diagonal into thin slices, transfer to a plate, cover, and keep warm.
Heat the tortillas according to package directions. Fill each one with a few slices of the chicken and some of the onion mixture and cheese. Fold the filled tortillas and serve.

My Notes: We used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs. Russ grilled the chicken for us and we used flour tortillas instead of corn. I couldn’t find the queso fresco, so we used the grated Monterey Jack. I am keeping my eye out for crumbled queso fresco, so if you happen to run across it let me know where you saw it please.