My boyfriend and I get Mexican cravings pretty often. We used to go to a little carryout place down the street, but it's been awfully disappointing lately. Sometimes we resort to the box of Ortega or Old El Paso and make some tacos. But when I saw Gaby's post on beef fajitas over at What's Gaby Cooking, I decided I could forgo the box and the takeout place and satiate our Mexican cravings by making fajitas from scratch.
Gaby's marinade recipe sounded so refreshing and tantalizing -- with cilantro and lime juice -- that I really wanted to make the fajitas right away, but it actually took a couple weeks before I got around to it. Head over to her blog for the marinade ingredients. (I used all but the jalapenos for mine.)
I mixed the marinade together right in a Ziploc gallon size bag, shook it up, added three sirloin strip steaks, and shook it again, this time lightly, so the steaks got all coated with marinade. I left them in the fridge until the next night, turning the bag over occasionally during that time so both sides of the steaks could soak up the tangy marinade.
When it was time to prepare dinner, I whipped up some guacamole first, so the flavors would have time to marry while I made the rest of the food.
Quick Guacamole For One
Mash 1 avocado in a small bowl with the back of a fork. Squeeze in a wedge of lime (1/4 of the lime), and season with a little salt and pepper and garlic powder. Set aside.
Then I chopped up 1 red pepper, 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 orange pepper, 1/2 green pepper, and a medium-size onion. I tossed these in a large bowl with some vegetable oil, salt and pepper, onion powder, and a smidge of chili powder. I dumped the veggies into a pan warmed over medium-high heat, sauteeing them until they were heated through and still crisp-tender, and then tossed them back in the bowl and covered the bowl with foil.
Then I took my marinated steaks and rested them in the hot pan the veggies had just vacated, where they immediately started sizzling. Once they were cooked to medium to medium-rare (you may have to slice them ahead if the steaks are really thick), I took them out and sliced them up and then popped two flour tortillas in the oven, which I had preheated to 350 when I started cooking the veggies.
Finally, all prep and cooking done, we each assembled our own fajitas -- mine with cheese, steak, veggies, and heaps of guacamole...
...and my boyfriend's with everything but guacamole. Every bite was packed with flavor.
Thanks for a great recipe, Gaby!