The Sunday Dinner: Inspired Fajita Edition

About a week ago, having just gotten up, I stumbled bleary-eyed into my living room to a television set still aglow from the night before. The emblem in its lower right corner indicated the food network, so I, not yet able to muster the strength myself, opted to slump down and watch someone else slaving away in the kitchen. The lesson for the day was how to prepare the perfect, home-made tortilla chips and guacamole, which, according to the impossibly cheery lady on the screen were quick and simple to boot.

Perfect guacamole you say, and simple too? I like all these things, do go on cheery lady of the morning.

It turned out that she was not lying, so all day afterwards visions of a mexican feast began slow cooking in my mind. Guacamole would of course be invited, Fajitas too, and rice. No, just any rice won't do. Cilantro-lime rice. Now were talking.

With the meal in mind, several friends and myself set off that evening to Trader Joes, and returned rearing to cook armed with a bagful of fresh ingredients and an appetite to match.


The Guacamole: As the lady on the TV told me, a great guacamole needs nothing more than 2 or 3 avacados, mashed up and drizzled with a whole lime to keep from browning. Mix in a half an onion (finely diced) and a pinch or two of salt and you're done. Sure tomatos and garlic are nice, but sometimes simple is better.

The Cilantro-Lime Rice: Starting with about 2 cups of regular old rice, we mixed in around 2 tablespoons of salt, half a cup of chopped fresh cilantro, a pinch of garlic powder, and then squeezed a lime and a half over the whole concoction.


The Fajitas: For the Fajitas, we started with a pre-packaged carne asada flank steak, threw it in a cast iron pan, sprinkled it with lime and cooked it along with garlic, chopped onions and peppers. Once done, we diced it up and served it alongside the cilantro lime rice, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc. on a warm tortila. Done and done.

A couple of Pacificos (with limes of course) washed the whole thing down in style.

The meal was truly as simple as it sounds, and almost criminally tasty, so if you're looking for some culinary inspiration of your own, the search stops here.