Indoor Fajitas

I've been making super heavy comfort foods for Sunday dinners the past few weeks, so today I asked my husband what he was in the mood for. We both had busy, tiring days of serious cleaning and serious yard work, and he thought that tacos would be good because they were both light and filling. My problem with tacos is that I have not been able to make up the ground meat to go in them since I was pregnant with my daughter. We use to eat tacos all the time, but when I got pregnant with her, the smell, taste and texture of ground meat with taco seasoning just made me want to gag. For some reason . . . it still does. Tacos the way we used to have them were out, but he was right about that type of meal being right today. So I compromised and decided to make fajitas.

Then I had another obstacle standing in my way. No propane for the grill! But by now I really wanted fajitas so I was determined to find a way. What we ended up with was chicken strips and peppers that I quickly cooked in a skillet with some olive oil, seasoned with some salt and pepper.

To make the chicken and peppers:

Begin by slicing two bell peppers into thin strips. Coat a large frying pan with some olive oil and set it on medium heat. When the skillet is hot, put in the peppers. Stir until they are mostly coated with the oil, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook over the medium heat for about ten minutes, moving occassionally. Empty them into a bowl when they are finished.

While they're cooking, take out your chicken breasts and season them on both sides with salt and pepper. I used 5 thin cut chicken breasts to feed my family of four. Cook your chicken breasts in the same skillet as the peppers, over the same heat. They will take about five minutes on each side. Once they are cool enough to touch, slice them into strips. They are now ready to serve.

I also made a lime guacamole to go in the fajitas. I've been playing with my guacamole preparation, and tonight I went lime crazy it out to give a bold flavor.

To make the guacamole:

Begin by dicing half of a red onion very finely. Put it in a small bowl. Finely dice one anaheim chile and add it to the onion. Now, what you would really need to accomplish what I did would be a mortar and pestle, but I did not have that so I used the Pampered Chef tool that I use to make tarts :) I ground the onions with the chile to mash them slightly. Add the zest of one lime to the bowl, then juice half of the lime into the bowl. If you want really lime-tastic guac, you can juice the whole lime. Add the avocados to the bowl and mix with a fork. If you like chunky guac, don't mix it too much. This recipe requires no chilling. Your guacamole is ready to serve.

We ended up with a light yet filling dinner that was full of delicious flavors that pleased the whole family. I served the chicken, peppers and guacamole with other fajita fixings like sour cream, shredded cheddar, diced tomatoes and sliced black olives. Easy yet also delicious!