Chicken Fajitas

BEER…makes everything better, including fajitas. Cooking Light’s January 2011 issue is dedicated to quick chicken dinners and the Chicken Fajitas recipe was absolutely outstanding. The recipe calls for marinating the chicken for just one hour. I thought it would be much more flavorful marinated overnight so I threw the marinade together quickly after returning from the Superbowl party at my best friend Christy’s house and set it in the fridge for the next day. I didn’t have any dark Mexican beer so I used Sam Adams lager and added a bit more lime juice to the marinade to compensate. The chicken was sliced very thin so it cooked in the allotted two minutes per side on my grill pan. Peppers are one of my favorite foods so I added sliced green peppers to the red and the yellow called for in the recipe. I also added in sliced tomatoes because I love them in fajitas. We served CL’s Chicken Fajitas with bottled salsa, sour cream and Terry’s guacamole. As a side I had some leftover salad from the Superbowl party and Terry had more fajitas. This recipe is a definite repeater and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch.

-Heather

Chicken Fajitas
Cooking Light, January 2011
Total: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4  cup  dark Mexican beer
• 2  tablespoons  lower-sodium soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice
• 1  tablespoon  canola oil
• 1  tablespoon  Worcestershire sauce
• 3  garlic cloves, crushed
• 1  pound  skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut across grain into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• 1  cup  sliced onion
• 1  orange bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1  yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 8  (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1  jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
• Salsa (optional)
• Reduced-fat sour cream (optional)
• Fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring well. Place chicken in a zip-top plastic bag. Add 3/4 cup beer mixture to bag; seal. Reserve remaining beer mixture. Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Combine onion, bell peppers, and remaining beer mixture in a zip-top plastic bag, and seal. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and black pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Remove onion and bell peppers from bag, and discard marinade. Add onion mixture to pan; cook for 6 minutes or until tender, turning after 3 minutes. Toast tortillas in pan, if desired. Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates, and divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas. Divide onion mixture evenly among servings. Garnish with jalapeño slices. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and cilantro, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 377

Fat: 9.4g (sat 1.5g,mono 4.7g,poly 2.3g)

Protein: 31.6g

Carbohydrate: 39.8g

Fiber: 4.3g

Cholesterol: 66mg

Iron: 1.9mg

Sodium: 668mg

Calcium: 67mg

Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light, JANUARY 2011

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring well.

Place chicken in a zip-top plastic bag. Add 3/4 cup beer mixture to bag; seal. Reserve remaining beer mixture. Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning occasionally. (I decided to marinate overnight.)

Combine onion, bell peppers, and remaining beer mixture in a zip-top plastic bag, and seal. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and black pepper.

Add chicken to pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Remove onion and bell peppers from bag, and discard marinade. Add onion mixture to pan; cook for 6 minutes or until tender, turning after 3 minutes. 

  

 Toast tortillas in pan, if desired.Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates, and divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas. Divide onion mixture evenly among servings. Garnish with jalapeño slices. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and cilantro, if desired.