Thinking about Peppers

The Story: 

Today I would like to tell you two things that blow my mind.  First, cutting bell peppers can be super-duper easy.  Second, apparently, sometimes thinking means using the resources other have thought of.  Cool, huh?

Do you like fajitas?  I do, but I have a little trouble with bell peppers, which is probably a big part of why I pretty much never make them.  I love Mexican food.  I am, however, not entirely competent at making it.  My sister says that "Mexican" food in America is not really Mexican food.  I believe her.  (I've also heard this about many types of ethnic cuisine.) But that doesn't mean I can't still enjoy it.  And apparently, the masses of the USA do enjoy it.  I was recently driving through Colorado and learned that if there are two things Coloradans (and tourists?) love, they are Mexican restaurants and Christmas shops.  In that order.

So, bell peppers.  I was taught to chop them up this way: cut a hole around the stem, pull out the stem and seeds, cut pepper into 2-4 sections, pick out more seeds, slice awkwardly because knives are straight and peppers are rounded, chop... remove some more seeds.  Complicated and tricky.  I never liked this job.

But this way is so much easier and so obvious I'm ashamed I didn't think of it myself.  Place a washed pepper stem-up.  Slice off a side at a time.  Flick off any seeds that might be clinging, and use the tip of the knife to slice off any tough white parts from the inside of the flesh.  Slice, chop, etc. each side.  If there's much of the bottom left, you can also chop that up, but more seeds are likely to cling to the bottom. Easy, quick, done.

Now, if you need something to use that bell pepper on, how about a fajita recipe from the fabulously brilliant website MomsWhoThink.com.  It's got info on everything from women's health and parenting tips, to party planning and organization checklists.  PLUS, easy meal plans including a whole bunch of 30-minute meals, healthy meals, and sides to go with everything.  Seriously, sometimes letting others' ideas work for you is brilliant thinking. 



The Recipe:


Chicken Fajitas (modfied from here)

1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fajita seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 chicken breasts, butterflied and thinly sliced diagonally across the grain
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow/orange bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 flour tortillas, warmed

In zip-top plastic bag, mix the garlic powder, vinegar, seasoning mix, oregano. Add the chicken, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate 1 hour or more.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over high heat.  Remove chicken from marinade (discard any extra marinade, or mix it right in with the chicken) and sautee in pan until cooked through. Remove to a plate.

Let skillet cool slightly, spray again with cooking spray, and saute onion and bell pepper (if using--I didn't because I didn't have any on hand) over medium heat until soft. Add chicken, tomatoes, and salt.  Toss to combine and heat through. 

Serve immediately wrapped in tortillas, with sour cream and shredded cheese, if desired. 



The Verdict: 

I served this with frozen corn cooked and seasoned with a tiny bit of butter and some lemon pepper.  All of it was good, complimentary to everything else, and easy.  I really, really like it when healthy, lower-fat food is delicious.  But I also really like sour cream and cheese.  So when I get a bit of both, it's a winning situation.