Fajitas

Fajitas

I fell in love with this Mexican entrée the first time I had it. Hot sizzling veggies- what’s not to love? Fajitas are typically served with tortillas and rice; but you can eat them just as they are, like stir-fry. At a restaurant, they are a huge platter of sizzling veggies (and meat) served with Spanish rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream and tortilla. Me and my sister, we both love fajitas and always end up sharing it.

It is best if you have a grill at home- veggies will have the beautiful grill marks. If not, a flat skillet would work too.

Fajitas are almost always a meat-oriented dish. Meat (steak, pork, chicken) is sauteed with peppers and onions. I always have to customize my fajitas with extra veggies. Do try this soul-satisfying dish.

Ingredients:

• -Peppers (more color the better) - 2; sliced 1” long
• -Onion- Vidalia (red onion); 1 large
• -Zucchini -1, sliced into ¼” rounds
• -Mushroom- sliced, 1 cup
• -Jalapeno- 1, sliced 1” long
• -Oregano-1 tsp
• -Cumin powder-1tsp
• -Olive oil-1 tbsp or PAM oil spray
• -Cilantro-1 bunch, roughly chopped
• -Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
• -Salt as needed

1. Spray the flat skillet with PAM or oil. Place the peppers, onion, zucchini and mushroom so they don’t overlap much. You can do this in batches as well.
2. Let then cook for about 2min. Flip the veggies and let it cook again for 2min.
3. Now sprinkle a tsp of salt and the cumin+oregano. Let it sizzle for a min more. You will smell the wonderful peppers sizzling. Add lemon juice and remove from stove. Garnish with cilantro.
4. Do NOT burn the veggies. Once you add salt, the veggies will start to give out water, which makes the fajitas juicy!

Garlic-herb-edamame rice

Garlic-herb-edamame rice

I’m craving rice; I have no fresh veggies at home, just frozen. Kinda boring…

And I’ve had Italian herbs sitting in the fridge forever. I decided to make some kind of Italian herb-garlic rice…I’ve used sage, rosemary and garlic. Ideally, mint and cilantro would be the best herbs to be mixed in with rice. Since this is a bland, not-too-nutritious mix, I added some edamame. You could add peas. Edamame is a protein powerhouse, a vegetarians’ best friend.

Cook what you got ppl!

Ingredients:

-Cooked rice (basmati is the best, but any long grain rice would suffice) - 2 cups

-Italian herbs; Sage, rosemary- 2tbs, chopped

-Edamame- ½ cup (I used frozen)

-Garlic- 2tbs, minced (about 6 large cloves)

-Jalapeno- 1, finely chopped (optional)

-Oil-1tbs…I prefer olive oil

-Salt-as needed

1. Cook the rice till it’s fluffy. (Use a ratio of rice: water= 1:2 to get fluffy grains). Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a skillet. Add the chopped herbs and edamame. Sauté for 2 min or so until fragrant. Now add the garlic and sauté-do NOT let the garlic burn.
3. Once you can smell the aroma of herbs, add rice and salt to the skillet and mix gently. DO NOT mash the rice, gently toss.

That’s all. Super easy isn’t it? Feel free to up the herbs or garlic according to your taste. I would typically add more garlic to anything!

Variation- Try using mint, cilantro and garlic. I remember the days my mom would make this mouth watering, incredibly simple rice. Somehow, I can never cook like her…even if I duplicate her recipe morsel by morsel!

Also try adding bay leaves or a pinch of cardamom powder.

Cauliflower-spinach curry

I’ve been hoarding frozen veggies in the fridge…come summer; this is the best way to cook! It’s so hot. I am in no mood to chop blahhh

Here, I used the California blend- cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and peas. I also used half a pack of frozen cauliflowers. Like I say, simply use what you got in the freezer.

Ingredients:

-Frozen veggies- California blend/frozen cauliflower-2 cups

-Spinach leaves- 1-2 cups

-Onion- 1, cut into 4 and blended

-Tomato sauce/paste-1 cup or use 2 fresh tomatoes and blend them with the onion.

-Ginger-garlic paste-2 tsp

-Green chillies- 2-3, cut into small pieces

-Cardamom powder- 1 tsp

-Parsley- chopped, 1 tbs

-Cumin seeds, aniseed (saunf), cloves (2-3) - 1 tsp each for tempering

-Oil- ½ tbs

-Salt as needed

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet. Once hot, add the tempering spices. Now add the blended onion and ginger-garlic paste and let it cook for 5-8min until the raw smell of onion subsides.
2. Now add the tomato paste and cook for another 5 min.
3. Add the veggies and cardamom powder. Veggies don’t need to be thawed. They will thaw out in the gravy anyway. Toss the veggies till they are coated with gravy. Let them cook for another 5-10min.
4. Add the spinach now since they will wilt if cooked for long. Cook another 5 min.
5. Add salt for taste and sprinkle parsley on top before serving. Serve with roti or rice.