I am always looking for ways to make flavorful and healthy dinners during the week. It is always a challenge when you are busy and don’t feel like cooking at the end of the day, so things that can be prepped ahead of time or quickly are always the answer. I often opt for some semi-homemade options to supplement these meals. This is one that is great because it is easy to prepare and you can do pieces early in the day or right before cooking. Plus, you can throw some additional chicken and veggies in to save for lunches later in the week. I like to take the leftover rice and mix in chopped chicken and veggies for a great easy lunch! By skipping the cheese and sour cream included with lots of Mexican food, you can save lots of calories. This has so much flavor, I didn’t miss it. Enjoy!!

Kelly

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

1 Pound Chicken Breasts

2 Red Bell Peppers

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Zucchini

1 Red Onion, Sliced

1 Avocado

2 T Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Mission Fajita Tortillas

 

Marinade:

3 T Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce

Juice of ½ a Lime

2 T Red Wine Vinegar

1 Clove Garlic, finely chopped

2 Scallions, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper to Taste

 

Rice:

Near East Spanish Rice

1 Tomato, cubed

 

Beans:

365 Organic Refried Beans

Jalapeños

Juice of ½ Lime

Cumin

Salt and Pepper to Taste

 

Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and coat chicken with the mixture.


Cover the chicken and refrigerate until ready to grill (ideally 30 min – about 10 hours.) Prep the veggies by cleaning them and cutting them into manageable pieces to grill (quarter the peppers and slice the zucchini lengthwise.) Toss the veggies in 1-2 T olive oil and salt and pepper.


Slice the onion and set aside.


Prepare the rice according to the package directions and add chopped tomatoes after about 10 minutes of cooking.


Add 1 T olive oil to a skillet and cook the onions over med-high heat until golden.


Heat the black beans in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through, stirring in the jalapeños, lime juice, and spices. (Black beans do NOT photograph well, but they taste yummy!)


Grill the veggies and the chicken, let rest for a few minutes then slice into strips.



Heat the tortillas and serve immediately.


 

PS – When Ali got home late after work, she reinvented this by using lettuce in place of the tortillas which looked Fabulous! Gotta love new ideas! Do you have other ways to do fajitas??

As I mentioned in our Americana Steak post, we made succotash as our accompaniment for our fabulous steak. Now, I have been reminded several times, that succotash means lima beans. Lima beans don’t really top my list of favorite foods. It’s not really that I don’t like them, I just haven’t had any great lima beans…so when I saw this recipe, I knew it was right up my alley. The lima beans are replaced with green beans, yum! This was a quick and easy way to switch up our regular vegetable options. We did adjust this recipe a little based on the vegetables we had available. The big changes we made to this were that we threw the corn on the grill before adding it, we left the peppers fresh, and we were lacking zucchini (but I am sure that would be awesome). We left the corn a bit on the underdone side so it wouldn’t be overdone when added to the pan. This was a great way to round out our meal.
One other thing—If you struggle with corn going everywhere when you cut it off the cob, try this little trick. Get out your Bundt pan, yes the one for baking, place the corn cob vertically in the center of the pan and cut the kernels off as you normally would. All of the kernels will fall into the pan, keeping them contained. It is like magic! (Sorry I don’t have photos, I will remember next time!)

Kelly

Summertime Succotash

Based on the ‘Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook

1 to 1 ½ c green and/or yellow wax beans, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
¾ c minced scallions (white and light green parts only)
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 ½ c fresh corn kernels
¾ cup corn stock, chicken stock, or fish stock
¼ c heavy whipping cream
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Blanch the beans in boiling salted water for 5-7 minutes until crisp-tender. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and cook gently for one minute, until slightly soft. Add the zucchini, pepper and corn kernels (reserve if grilled) and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the beans, stock and cream (and corn if grilled) and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the liquid is reduced to a thick, creamy consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.