October 10, 2017
Last week I felt on the back foot. I think it was because we had a long weekend, which was absolutely awesome might I add! We went down to Melbourne for the weekend and in true Ella fashion ate way to much food and drank way too much, but when in Rome right? I had forgotten just how good the foodie scene is down there, and we went to some awesome restaurants, most of which I’d been to before and was just revisiting because they are amazing! I mean Brisbane is getting better every day in terms of the restaurants on offer, but we still aren’t quite Melbourne level yet. But hey! At least there aren’t many restaurants yet where you have to wait for a table for an hour and a half, so there is that happy fact!
So last week I was a little slack with getting my act together for the blog, mainly because I realised on Wednesday that it wasn’t Tuesday, and I really hadn’t had an opportunity to try out a new recipe to share. Luckily I was having a good friend over to watch the Bachelorette (those shows are better with friends, believe me) and so rather than ordering Uber Eats I offered to cook. Being in West End now means that it is all too easy and tempting to just order in when you get home from work, but I’m making a conscious effort to make sure I keep cooking as I enjoy it once I’m doing it!
When I was trying to decide what to cook, I remembered something I’d thrown together while we were moving that my partner had really enjoyed. I had been surprised at the time because it was basically a salad, and he’s not the biggest fan of salads! I later found out he swears there was rice or something in it, but there really wasn’t. So I figured if my partner enjoyed it so much, despite there being no carbs, I should give it another crack, this time with my full spice drawer on hand.
I love a good Mexican meal. If you make it at home it is actually quite a healthy meal, and uses really fresh, raw ingredients for the most part. I would make Mexican every week if I could, it is so tasty! And I think the best thing about it is that it is really communal: you put the ingredients out and everyone can make their own which is nice. It’s a super easy solution when you have guests over, and makes for a great weeknight option when you don’t have a lot of time to cook. My recipe for chicken fajitas was definitely a winner this week, and I enjoyed it so much I thought it was worth sharing with you all.
I should note, I was going to make the chicken fajita mix in the oven, but I haven’t quite worked out my oven yet, so I had to do a last minute stint in the fry pan to get dinner on the table! For the recipe I’ve specified the cooking time in the fry pan only, but if you want to split the cooking time between the oven and fry pan like I did, by all means (it does mean more washing up though, big fail on my part!)
- 500 grams skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 brown onion, sliced
- 3 red capsicums, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red chilli, diced (optional)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 3 handfuls baby spinach leaves
- 1 lime chopped into quarters
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, chopped into halves
- 1 lebanese cucumber, diced
- 1 ripe avocado
- juice of half a lemon
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Add the coconut oil to a large frypan over a medium heat, and allow to melt. Toss in the onion, garlic and chilli, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until golden.
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Add the chicken and capsicum to the frypan, and sprinkle on the salt and pepper, paprika, ground coriander, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper. Stir to coat the chicken evenly.
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Cook, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is golden. Add water if it begins to stick.
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In a small bowl, squeeze out the avocado. Pour over the lemon juice, adding salt and pepper if you need, and use a fork to mash up and combine. Set aside.
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Place all accompaniments in separate small bowls (baby spinach leaves, lime, cucumber, tomatoes and carrot). Place on the table with the guacamole.
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When the chicken is ready, place on a heat mat on the table with a serving spoon.
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Serve by allowing everyone to add their own ingredients to their bowl. Top with hot sauce if you want.
Although this recipe may look like it has a fair few steps, it is actually super easy, I promise! It is a great midweek meal because once you’ve prepped all the ingredients you are pretty much good to go. You can even chop up the ingredients while the chicken cooks to minimise your prep time.
This healthy meal went down really well this week. After eating so much food on the weekend, it was nice to have a salad and something so fresh and healthy for dinner. My partner got over the no rice thing eventually, and seemed to enjoy it in the end (although he had to have some gummy bears to tide him over after dinner). Honestly though I love how healthy and balanced Mexican food can be if you cook it at home. I love Mexican take out as much as the next person, but there’s something about how fresh it is when you make it at home that really makes the difference.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust it based on what you have on home. The stuff you put with the fajitas is completely up to you and what is in your pantry. You could even use the chicken fajitas part of the recipe and make it as a filling for tacos or burritos if you need something more substantial. You could also add cheese if you wanted something a bit extra on top. It’s really up to you, which is the awesome thing about it!
I love a good bowl of food, and the flavours of this all thrown together were awesome! I will definitely be making this again, although might need to add rice next time to get my partner’s tick of approval!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
