Steak Fajitas

Hubby and I love to order steak fajitas at Mexican restaurants. We split an appetizer and then an order of these. They’re always so yummy when someone else makes them.

But I’ve never managed to make steak fajitas worth writing home about.

Mainly because my method was: (a) buy package of pre-cut “stir fry beef” from the grocery store, (b) sauté this with a packet of “fajita seasoning.”

Meh. Underwhelming.

(Is that a word? I’ve heard it used so many times that it has lost that sense of being wrong)

So it had been a long time since I made steak fajitas. Then, somewhat recently, I was inspired to try again. I had a pound of sirloin leftover from a wine fondue night, so I thought I’d turn it into something else. I found a recipe and went with it.

First, I made a marinade. Some soy sauce…

Some red wine vinegar…

Some light corn syrup (I have such few things to do with corn syrup that I was a bit excited about this!)

Some hot sauce… For this, I finally opened the tabasco sauce that was a favor at my friend Diane’s wedding. Another friend had seen it at my house this summer and asked why I hadn’t opened it, what I was possibly saving it for. I didn't have an answer, so maybe it was time.

Also, some black pepper

Here it is, all whisked together.

This was my sirloin. The recipe said to use flank steak, but this was nice too.

After I sliced it up, I smooshed it in the dish with the marinade.

Then I cut up some veggies (onion and green pepper):

And smooshed them in there, too:

Then I put it in the fridge for about 24 hours before sautéing it and serving.

And forgot all about taking pictures.

Luckily, I made it again soon after this. This time, I used skirt steak:

This time around, I whipped up some guacamole to go with it. I started with a lot.

Then I ate a lot while I waited for hubby to get home. I couldn’t help myself. I was hungry.

Ooops. In my defense, that is a very small bowl.

Anyway, when he was about 10 minutes away, he texted me to let me know that he was almost home. I threw everything in a hot pan and sautéed it just long enough to cook the meat. I wanted the veggies to be crispish, not too tender.

When I served, I sprinkled the meat and veggies with some Mexican blend cheese and added a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Very yummy, very juicy!

This recipe is definitely a keeper. Finally, homemade fajitas that are actually pretty good! They were both juicy and flavorful, and a very easy weeknight meal if you’ve had the foresight to marinade in advance.

Give it a try!

Beef Enchiladas with Corn and Black Beans

The strange thing about this recipe is that it’s entirely my own! I didn’t borrow or steal this recipe from anyone, I just threw everything together and made a meal all on my own.

Very strange.

But fun, I think.

I’ve made beef enchiladas a million times, but when I’ve done it, it’s been a primarily ground beef and enchilada sauce mixed up, put inside flour tortillas, and topped with more sauce and a whole bunch of cheese.

It’s very tasty done this way, but the problem is that it’s very boring. I just wasn’t feeling it, but I wanted something similar, so I decided to spice it up a bit with some additions.

Here is what I used: black beans, enchilada sauce, chopped green chilis, cilantro, onion, canned corn, ground beef, Greek yogurt, Mexican-blend cheese, flour tortillas, and a bit of refried beans to serve on the side.

First step, chop up the onion.

Second step: I sautéed a half cup of chopped onion for a few minutes, then added a half cup of rinsed and drained black beans. I figured they needed to cook down a bit so that they’d be tender before I put them in the enchiladas.

Then I added a half cup of corn.

Mixed all around.

Finally, I added the whole little can of chopped green chilis and let everything cook down until tender.

Then I took the mixture out of the skillet and set it aside.

(Nazzers – recognize the bowl? Points for those who do!)

Moving on. Next, I sautéed the beef in the same skillet.

After it was browned, I drained off the grease and then added a can of enchilada sauce.

Once it was heated up, I added most of the bean/ onion/ corn/ chilis mixture back in, though not all of it because it seemed like a lot.

In retrospect, I’m not sure it was necessary to separate everything out only to recombine, but ah well. It worked out.

Last step: a spoonful of Greek yogurt. This was really the change I was most looking forward to. I have recently discovered Greek yogurt and was looking for ways to sneak it into food, making it creamy, without tipping hubby off.

All melted and mixed into the mixture, this is what it looked like.

I laid out a bunch of tortillas in a dish and carefully scooped a bit into each one of them.

When the mixture was doled out, I rolled up the tortillas.

I poured the other can of enchilada sauce on top

And finally, I topped it off with Mexican-blend cheese.

Okay, by this point, my camera’s battery light was blinking at I wasn’t able to use the screen, so I actually had to use a viewfinder. That’s not something I’ve done in years! Ha.

Anyway, I served the enchiladas with some Mexican rice and refried beans on the side, and also topped with a spoonful of Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

Very tasty. Different. I think I should have included less chilis, since they were a little overwhelming, but otherwise I liked it a lot.

Who am I kidding? I’m just smug that I made my own recipe and that hubby liked it enough to eat the leftovers. Maybe I’m learning a thing or two about cooking.

Pizza Bagels

This meal came about because when I went grocery shopping this weekend, I was more focused on Thanksgiving supplies than stuff for meals this week. In other words, I didn’t have any meat to put in a meal other than a packet of pepperoni that I’d picked up last week because I made the mistake of shopping when hungry.

I didn’t feel like making pizza dough so I decided to use the bagels that I’d picked up to make a fun dinner.

I started with the two bagels I had left: poppyseed and egg.

Sliced them each in half.

And toasted them for a few minutes. I wanted them to crisp up a little bit before putting the sauce on.

While they were toasting, gathered my other three ingredients: Classico pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese. I didn’t have mozzarella, so I used Mexican blend.

Bagels are toasted!

Here’s the sauce:

And the cheese…

I decided to season them garlic powder…

And oregano…

And some crushed red pepper flakes.

Finally, some pepperoni.

Pop them in the toaster oven, which I had set to 400, and let them bake for a while.

Simple as that.

Not too healthy, of course, but they were damn yummy. Today, that’s all I cared about.