If no other schedule would be disrupted, I’d prefer to sleep during the day, with the air-con on, and do everything else at night—the cooking, the photographing, the writing—with the air-con off. It would even be nicer to go out at night rather than during the day. The summer heat won’t let up and the hours between nine o’clock in the morning until five o’clock in the afternoon are unbearable. But there’s nothing like taking food photos outdoors in the daylight. Markets and groceries are closed at night too. So, living like a vampire isn’t entirely possible. It is possible though to keep the cooking short and simple. Chicken fajita can be prepped and cooked in ten minutes.
Fajita? It looks like a taco, doesn’t it. Fajita is a variation of the taco. It is Tex-Mex, not traditional Mexican. What distinguishes fajita from taco? Fajitas have a grilled meat filling. Traditionally, grilled skirt steak. Today, it can be any beef cut. It doesn’t even have to be beef. Pork, seafood and chicken can go into a fajita. You can even do away with the meat and make all-vegetable fajitas. Just remember—the filling has to be grilled.
Making fajita is simple. Grill your seasoned meat then chop or slice it. Warm a taco and pile the grilled meat on it. You can add the condiments right there on serve them on the side. Shredded lettuce, guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa… take your pick.
Ingredients
- 2 small chicken thigh fillets or 1 large
- salt
- pepper
- cayenne
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- 2 to 3 lettuce leaves
- 4 to 5 cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cucumber
- 2 tablespoons sliced scallions
- vinaigrette
- 1 large tortilla
- fresh cilantro torn
Instructions
- Start heating a skillet on the stove.
- Place the chicken thigh fillets between sheets of cling film and pound to a uniform thickness. One-fourth inch thickness is ideal for quick cooking. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Place the seasoned chicken on the pre-heated skillet and cook over high heat for two minutes per side.
- While the chicken cooks, prepare the garnishes. In this case, the "garnishes" were prepared in the form of a simple salad. Shred the lettuce. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Peel, de-seed and cut the cucumber into small cubes. Toss them all together with the scallions in a bowl. Drizzle in enough vinaigrette to moisten them and toss once more.
- Take the chicken off the skillet and transfer to a chopping board.
- Warm the tortilla on both sides in the still hot skillet.
- Slice or chop the chicken.
- Place the warmed tortilla on a plate. Spoon the salad on the tortilla, top with the grilled chicken and sprinkle in some torn cilantro.
- Enjoy your chicken fajita!
Cheese Sticks, Filipino Style