Cooking With Bo: Healthy Chicken Fajitas with Fresh Pico de Gallo

Ashley mentioned that there has readers and our friends alike requested the recipe from our fun post-race Mexican dinner on Sunday night.

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I’m happy to oblige as I loved the final result! I’ll first say that I’ve never really studied Mexican cooking; I just love it and have always experimented with it. I do really want to learn more including how to cook the many delicious braises that are always bursting with flavor and spice. That said, one of my go-to simple and incredibly delicious Mexican dishes is chicken fajitas with fresh pico de gallo.

You can make these with any part of the chicken but if you want to keep it super lean and healthy, I recommend boneless, skinless breasts. One of the keys to good chicken fajitas (especially if you use boneless breast) is a good marinade. The other keys are very fresh ingredients and just a little patience when it comes to prep work.

Chicken Fajitas with Fresh Pico de Gallo

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Ingredients (Makes enough for 4 – 6):

For the Fajitas:
8 small corn or flour fajitas
4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
2 medium yellow onions
2 bell peppers (color up to you)
Vegetable oil (for sautéing)

For the Marinade:
Juice of 1 Orange
Juice of 1 Lime
4 tablespoons of EVOO
3 tablespoons of fresh minced cilantro (coriander if you’re British)
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of chili-powder
1 tablespoon of fresh minced white onion
1 teaspoon of fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
Minced jalapeños for extra heat (optional)

For the Pico de Gallo:
Two large tomatoes (diced into small squares)
One Jalapeño Pepper (seeded and minced) (more if you like it spicy)
One small white onion (minced)
1 garlic clove (minced)
Juice of 1/2 – 1 lime (to taste)
Minced cilantro (to taste – I like lots, like a half a bunch you would buy at the grocery store)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1) Combine marinade ingredients in a glass bowl or a Ziplock bag. With a sharp knife, pierce the chicken breast a few times so that the marinade fully penetrates the chicken. Place the chicken in the marinade and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

2) While the chicken is marinating, do the rest of the prep work (again, if you might need to have some patience unless you’re really fast with a knife). Start with the onions and the bell peppers. Cut off the tops and bottoms of the onions and slice into strips along the grain (they will soften more easily this way). Then cut the bell peppers in half vertically and seed them. Cut out the top and slice into strips about a half an inch wide. Put the onions and the bell peppers aside separately and proceed with the prep work for the pico de gallo. First, dice the tomatoes. I find it easiest to fist cut the tomatoes vertically and then notch out the tops. Then lay the halves on their sides and slice vertically into strips cutting almost to the root end making sure that the tomato is still together. Then cut one or two slices horizontally again, not all the way through. You should now have a tomato half that can be easily diced simply by cutting vertically across the tomato. Now mince the white onion. Again, one more technique. Peel the onion skin and then cut the onion in half through the root end. Cut the top end off but leave the root end on. Make vertical cuts close together from the tip to close to the root, then slice across the grain to make quick work of the mincing. Finally mince the jalapeño after seeding it (or include the seeds if you like it spicy) but be careful, if you touch any part of your face after mincing a raw jalapeño, IT WILL BURN. Finally, mince the garlic clove in the normal way (really just rapid chopping – if anyone has a great garlic mincing trick please don’t hesitate to share).

3) To assemble the pico, leave the tomatoes in a colander for 30 minutes over a bowl while the juices drain (this is so the pico isn’t too wet). After 15 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients except the lime juice and the salt and pepper and mix together to let the flavors mingle. Finally after another 15 minutes, transfer to a bowl, add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

4) To cook the fajitas, first take the chicken out of the refrigerator, pound the breasts to tenderize them, and slice the chicken into strips. Put a large sauté pan on medium heat and once its heated add a bit of oil and add the onions. Cook the onions until they soften and slightly browned, making sure that they don’t burn. Remove the onions to a bowl and cook the bell peppers in the same way. Finally, turn the heat up to medium-high and cook the chicken pieces until they brown slightly. Deglaze the pan with a little bit of the marinating liquid making certain that it heats up enough to kill any germs (it has been in contact with raw chicken). Add the onions and peppers back to the pan and mix together.

5) Heat the tortillas on a pan and add a bit of the fajita mixture, some pico and a little cheese or sour-cream and a bit of fresh minced cilantro.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of Cooking with Bo.  Does anyone have any favorite Mexican recipes that they would like to share? Or recipe requests for next week?

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Two Delicious Recipes

Happy Monday! It feels so wonderful to be back in Geneva! Check out the gorgeous sunrise that I was privy to this morning when my flight was approaching the city. 2014-01-06 08.11.40-1A few days ago I didn’t think I’d utter words of excitement upon stepping back onto European soil as I had such a wonderful time with our friends and family in both Savannah and New York. But it became clear this morning that right now, this is where we are meant to be in our life and I have a renewed sense of excitement. This year is going to certainly have it’s share of challenges professionally but personally I know it’s going to be filled with fun weekends away and traveling.

As my friend Ranald said, skiing is the perfect Winter weekend activity as you always have something to look forward to, even on Monday! 2013-12-01 14.23.27This weekend our same group is heading back up to Verbier for a weekend of skiing and fun. It will be even more fun as some of my co-workers from New York our joining us for the weekend before our semi-annual strategy meetings begin in Geneva on Monday.

I have found that in order to keep a positive outlook and manage stress I need to focus on what I put in my body. For this reason I’ve been spending a lot of time on Pinterest and talking with friends about their favorite healthy recipes. Over the past month I discovered two kale recipes which are totally different yet both are packed with flavor and can serve as either a side dish or a main dish if some protein is added. One of them was a Pinterest discovery and the other was served at a dinner party I attended. Enjoy!

Recipe #1: Warm Balsalmic Kale Salad: This recipe says it serves 2 but if served as a side it definitely makes 4 servings. The flavors are incredible thanks to the balsamic paired with the richness of the mushrooms sautéed in a little butter. The only change I made to this recipe was using 1/2 the butter. Bo loved this dish so much that he asked me to Pin it to my Pinterest board and then insisted that it becomes a regular standby.

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Recipe #2: Kale and Avocado Salad My friend Lauren served this at our December girls night dinner and none of us could stop commenting on how delicious it was. Asian inspired, this is the perfect compliment to teriyaki chicken or even a lighter Asian inspired dish such as a soup as the use of avocado, hemp seeds and olive oil give it satiating staying power. As you can see by the Instagram post, Lauren served it alongside homemade Viatnamese Beef Noodle soup which was a perfect meal for a cold December night. (picture source)

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I hope you enjoy these two recipes as much as I have. These are two easy and flavorful ways to squeeze in some extra nutrients to your next lunch or dinner!

Have you hopped on the kale train? If so what is your favorite recipe or way to enjoy it?

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November Link Love

Tuesday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the work week.

Due to relaxing Monday nights, I tend to get to the office bright and early, before 7am! The extra few hours helps me get ahead on email and work before the meetings begin. Lunch hour is spent upstairs in our office gym sweating through 45 minutes of Body Pump while hoping to learn even just one new French word each class. Today I learned épaules (shoulders) during our shoulder and back set. After experiencing my first Swiss manicure and pedicure this evening I’ve spent the past few hours in the kitchen. I am covered in flour doing my best to whip up an anniversary surprise for Bo. If my oven has anything to do with it this will be a 3rd failed attempt. While I’m getting my hands covered in flour and eggs, here are a few of my favorite links for you to enjoy!

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Race Recaps I’m Loving

  • Anne ran her first marathon in under 4 hours!!
  • Beth’s NYCM race recap left me in tears
  • Recipes I’m Loving

  • Never Fail Chocolate Chip Cookies from All Recipes
  • Winter Squash & Chicken Stew with Indian Spices inspired this week’s chili though ours used ground chicken
  • Last week I made this butternut squash chili recipe which was easy and made more than enough for me AND our freezer
  • These roasted mushrooms left us both craving more on Sunday night and paired perfectly with our red wine and tenderloin
  • Our Thanksgiving Menu

    We are hosting 11 of our Geneva friends along with one of our best friends from New York, Michael, for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Our dinner will be similar to the United Nations with the countries of Belgium, France, Scotland, Czech Republic, and United States represented at one table! While each person is bringing either wine, appetizer, dessert or side dish to share, Bo and I are excited to spend some time in the kitchen together cooking the turkey and some of our favorite side dishes together. Right now we’re trying to figure out how to make our way too old oven work as the shelf has a horrible tilt which results in uneven cooking!

  • Apple Orange Cranberry Sauce
  • Bon Appetit’s Simple is Best Dressing
  • Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Pan Friend Goat Cheese
  • Tom Colicchio’s Herb Butter Turkey
  • Your Turn: I am working on a winter running gift guide which will be published on Friday! What is your favorite piece of winter running gear?

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