Oldie but goodie

There are times that I come home from work and just want to sit on the couch and not move for several hours. However, I still want to eat a tasty dinner, and let's face it, Blake's not going to make one of those for me unless I want to start eating red meat. So last night, I turned to one of my fallback meals: fajitas.

I have been making fajitas since freshman year at Wake, in the Collins 3A kitchen with the lovely and talented Dana "D.Lo" Givens. While my recipe has changed slightly over the years, it's still basically the same meal. And if you do it right, it takes less than 20 minutes to prepare. Also, no matter how many new and fancy meals I make, fajitas are always one of Blake's favorites.

Simple way to make this meal in 20 minutes: use a frozen veggie blend and rotisserie chicken. I like to keep a pepper and onion frozen veggie bag in the freezer for occassions such as this. But note: do NOT use the same amount of sautee-ing oil when you're using frozen veggies as you do when you use fresh ones...because when they thaw out in the pan, it creates water and it winds up making the veggies greasy. I have made this mistake before. It is not pretty.

Basically, I throw the veggies in the pan with some spices until they're heated, shread up some of the rotisserie chicken that I have on-hand for use in my lunch salads, and once that's heated up, you throw some fajita shells in the microwave for 30 seconds and you're done. Keep in mind that the spice blend you choose can make all the difference. My favorite is garlic salt, black pepper, season-all, and lemon pepper. And if I want it to be spicier, I add red pepper flakes.

I don't feel that I need a side dish with fajitas, but Blake likes chips and salsa on the side, which is just about the easiest thing ever. He has requested refried beans, but I hate beans, so he's on his own there. A simple and delicious dinner is key when your DVR is recording 4-hours worth of important prime time viewing. And on that note...how much did the Idol suck last night? A lot, I thought.

Side note regarding my gym activities yesterday: I'm much less sore than I thought I would be from the running. I may try that again tomorrow. Today we go low impact on the elliptical I think.