I love Mexican food.  Although rice, garlic, ginger and soy sauce are great – witness my cooking so far - tortillas, beans, avocados and mole could possibly be superior.  I still have fond memories of going out to eat with my dad, and eating burritos bigger than my head. And no, it’s not just that I have a small head!

It’s often hard to make Mexican food for one.  If I have a craving, I usually head to the local taqueria.  And given that it’s my usual food of choice for late nights, I usually swing by an eatery once every 1-2 weeks.  Fajitas, however, are a straightforward and quick dish, provided you buy the correct vegetables, have a lemon/ lime, and have cumin.  Some purists would have you marinate the meats overnight.  I haven’t found that to be a huge deal, but it does taste moderately better if you have the time.

You can also make this dish with beef rather than chicken – almost everyone loves carne asada.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Method: Stove Top, Pan Fry
Cooking Tools: Spatula and Cast Iron

Ingredients:

1. 1 small to medium size onion, usually yellow (but whatever you have in the fridge should work)
2. Two green bell peppers
3. One red bell pepper
4. 2 chicken thighs or 1 big breast cut into strips.
5. 1 lemon
6. Cumin & Paprika applied liberally, or fancy fajita spices from the store.
7. Cayenne pepper powder (as desired)
8. Salt and Pepper to taste
9. 1 Tbsp Canola/ Olive Oil
10. 1/2 Tbsp Butter (especially if you are using chicken breast)
11. Tortillas
12. Optional Enhancers: Tomatoes, Avocado, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Guacamole etc….

Instructions:

1. Using a 12″ cast iron pan, heat up the butter on medium high (don’t let the butter burn) and slice up the chicken into strips.
2. Throw the chicken in and pan fry it in the butter.  (For chicken breast, a smidge of butter really goes a long way to keep the meat moist.) Add a dash of cumin and salt for flavor.
3. Squeeze half the lemon into the chicken.
4. Let the chicken cook and turn white in the pan, but don’t cook it all the way through. Remove chicken from pan and put it to the side.
5. Start slicing up the onion and green and red peppers into slices of similar thickness (~1cm wide).
6. Heat the oil in the same pan on high and throw in the onion and peppers. The onions and peppers should char a bit in the pan.
7. Add generous dashes of cumin and paprika. Add until you can smell the flavors simmering. Salt and pepper to desired level.
8. Add back the chicken and mix/ stir. Let the chicken cook until its done.
   



9. Squeeze the other half of the lemon into the mixture
10. When you are done, the onions should be soft, but the peppers should still have a bit of crunch.
11. Heat up some Tortillas (I usually just throw them directly on top and cover for 30 seconds)
12. Spoon out and eat

Here is the food plated. I ate it with half an avocado because I’m too lazy to make guac.