Best Chicken Fajitas Ever (Just My Humble Opinion)

Best Chicken Fajitas Ever

I think we all know by now that Mexican food is not the food of my people, but I do gleefully declare that my people love Mexican food, and we love fajitas, and these fajitas in particular. 

I've eaten a good number of fajita at chain restaurant and loved them, but it wasn't until we moved here that I figured out I could make them at home.  Now my first couple of attempts were pretty darned dismal; I kid you not.  No flavor, the vegetables and chicken were soupy or limp, just disagreeable all around.  Sometimes meals are better in restaurants.  Sigh.

But good fortune smiled on me, and I happened to be scrolling around Cooks.com looking at recipe reviews for ideas and I saw they had a fajita recipe that received numerous, numerous positive reviews.  Mmm, okay, I'm skeptical of any recipe calling itself "the best" because the concept of being best is subjective, but I decided to give it a whirl, and after the first bite I knew we had a winner.

I've shown you my fajita without all the fixings, and it definitely should have had a few more veggies for presentation, but regardless, this is deeee-licious.  I've served it to family members who are New Englanders, guests who are life-long Tusconians, and we all agree, these are fabulous.

There's a little marinating time involved, so plan ahead.  The wait will be worth it!  MMM mmm!

CHICKEN FAJITAS
 Original recipe from Cooks.com is found here.

MARINADE
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon season salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2lb chicken, sliced in strips as for fajita

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and marinate for at least 2 hours, stirring as necessary to ensure that the chicken is well marinated.

FAJITA
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 c sliced red bell pepper (or a combination of colors)

8 warmed large flour tortillas
1 sliced avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Quickly saute the onions and peppers in oil on high heat until lightly browned.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Using a slotted spoon, move the chicken strips to the pan and saute, about ten minutes.

Toss in the vegetables to reheat and to allow them to pick up some of the marinade flavors.

Spoon into warmed flour tortillas and top with toppings of your choice,

COOK'S NOTES:   I make the marinade as stated in the recipe but for the fajita portion of the recipe I add mixed colors of peppers, use an entire onion, and omit the green onion (scallions).  Nowadays a lot of our chicken sold in supermarkets seems to be injected with flavorings (to make it juicier they say) but unfortunately it also makes for a lot of juice in the pan when quickly sauteing it.  I dump out the extra juices exuded from the chicken and might add back a couple teaspoons of the marinade to make up for what was lost and diluted.  The idea is that the chicken should be dry (if you know what I mean) and not soupy, which I think is a gross quality in a fajita.

My fajitas were served with refried beans and Mexican rice, which you can see peeking out.  One of these days, if I can get a decent picture of either one, I'll share the recipes.  One of my new friends here, a life-long Tusconian swears I make the best refried beans she's ever eaten.  I don't know about that.  Friends sometimes can be effusive with their compliments, but I will say they are pretty good.  But as I said, that's for another day.  Something to look forward to.  Grins.