Recipe: Fajitas

Its hard to come up with new and exciting meal ideas for a big family. I tend to stick to the basics like spaghetti, chili, stew, stir-fry. So whenever I do haul out a cookbook and come up with something new, its a surefire hit (the sheer novelty of "NEW food!" haha). Which is how Fajitas came to be on our menu.

Basically I just use cheap steak meat from the store (could use chicken), and the vegetables I prefer are green and red bell peppers, onions and mushrooms (but you could use whatever you want, really). Then I make a pot of rice on the side. And, of course, the tortillas (corn for Tyler, flour ones for the kids). The whole thing about the fajitas is the SAUCE. That's the secret.

Oh, and marinating the meat for at least 4 hours.

(When I make this, I do a double batch so I have lots of sauce left over.)

FAJITA MARINADE

Prep: 5 minutes

Marinate: 4 hours

Makes about 1/2 cup marinade

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1. In shallow glass or plastic dish or resealable plastic food-storage bag, mix all ingredients.
2. Add about 1 pound boneless or 2-3 pounds bone-in beef, pork or chicken, turning to coat with marinade. Cover dish or seal bag and refrigerate, turning meat occasionally, at least 4 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
3. Remove meat from marinade; reserve marinade. Cook meat as desired, brushing occasionally with marinade.
4. Remaining marinade MUST be boiled to be served as a sauce (if not boiled, discard marinade). In 1-quart saucepan, heat marinade to boiling, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute.

I usually saute the vegetables in another pan while the meat is cooking, with the rice already cooked, and the tortillas warming in the oven. Tyler and the kids like to sprinkle shredded cheese over the hot beef and vegetables, drizzle some marinade on, then a dollop of sour cream, then roll it up in the tortilla. So good!