Sizzling Chicken Fajitas

This recipe is a favourite in my house - and it's really easy to put together - perfect for a midweek meal or as a weekend treat!

It's pretty healthy too - lots of tinned tomatoes, a great source of lycopene and potassium; avocados are also a fantastic potassium source and are loaded with heart-healthy oleic acid and vitamin E, and lutein for healthy eyes; chicken is a great low-fat source of protein, contains a decent amount of tryptophan, an amino acid known for its ability to increase seratonin levels thus helping to alleviate the symptoms of depression; chili for revving the metabolism, and the cheese provides a decent source of calcium. If you're watching your calorie intake, use low-fat cheese and sour cream. Wholemeal wraps are an option too for an added bit of fibre.

It's adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe that I saw years ago, and it's a firm favourite now. It's also really affordable - all the ingredients are available to buy in Lidl, so it's a one-shop dish as well!

I make these fajitas with chicken for myself, and prawns for my fiancé. It's very easy to adapt to your own specific tastes. For a vegetarian take on this recipe, leave out the meat and use chickpeas instead. Figure out how many chillies you like as well - mine is spicy enough for me, but if it's too spicy use less, but if you want more of a kick add in more chilies.


Sizzling Spicy Chicken Fajitas
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Guacamole
2 ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, finely chopped

For the Salsa
2 cans of tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2 cloves of garlic (increase or decrease as per your own taste)
bunch of coriander, or a shake of dried coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 chilli

For the Filling
4 chicken fillets, chopped into strips
2-3 red onions, cut into wedges
2 red peppers, sliced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
Bunch of coriander, or a couple of shakes of dried coriander
2 tbsp rapeseed oil

8 tortilla wraps
Low-fat sour cream
About 200g grated cheese

Method
For the filling

1. Preheat oven to about 150 C.
2. Mix all the filling ingredients together, including the oil, and mix well. Season and set aside while you make the guacamole and salsa. 
3. When everything is ready to go, wrap the tortilla wraps in tinfoil and put in the preheated oven to warm up. 
4. Ideally, a griddle pan is perfect for this, but a normal frying pan works just fine too. Heat about a tablespoon of oil on the pan - get it good and hot.
5. Tip the chicken mix into the pan, and cook for about 8 minutes until the peppers are softened and the chicken is cooked through. 
6. Serve in the pan at the table, with the wraps, guacamole, sour cream, salsa and grated cheddar. Enjoy!

For the guacamole

1. Cut the avocados in half, take the stone out and scoop the flesh out into a bowl. The riper the avocado the better. Mash the flesh with a fork or potato masher, or if you have it a hand blender. 
2. Mix the finely chopped onion in, season with salt and pepper and set aside. If you make this in advance, cover it and refrigerate it. 

For the salsa

1. Throw everything into a blender jug and whizz until smooth. If you don't have a blender that's ok too, just finely chop everything (make sure to buy chopped tinned tomatoes) and mix everything up - it'll be a chunkier salsa but that's OK too.

I started this blog on a whim, so next time I make fajitas, I will take photographic evidence and update this post!