When I get a hankering for beef fajitas, I pretty much can think of nothing else until I eat them. I made them over the weekend after a profound craving set in—and no, I’m not pregnant I think as far as I know—and ohhhhh, was the reward so sweet.
Here’s how I like to make ’em.
Start by drizzling some olive oil into a dish…
Then add some Worcestershire sauce.
And there you have it! Beef fajitas.
Just kidding.
Then slice up a bunch o’ limes…
And squeeze the juice on in.
Then chop up some garlic…
And throw it in, too!
For the spices, I used cumin…
Because I love cumin and I associate it with anything Tex-Mexy.
And some chili powder…
And red pepper flakes for heat.
Bada BING!
I have no idea why I just said bada bing.
Sometimes these things just come out.
Add some salt…
Some black pepper….
And just a little bit of sugar, because it makes the savory even better.
Now, whisk the whole mess together…
And pour half of it into a second dish.
I’ll tell you why in a minute.
Grab your hunka beef and throw it into one of the dishes…
Then turn the meat over to coat it in the marinade.
Now for the veggies, which are an important part of fajitas: slice up a couple of onions…
A red bell pepper…
An orange bell pepper…
A yeller bell pepper…
And a green bell pepper.
I love all the colors.
But you can just pick one or two.
You can also do diced zucchini.
Sliced mushrooms.
Any vegetables you love.
Throw them into the second dish of stuff…
Use your hands to toss the veggies around and coat them in the marinade. It won’t totally gloop them up, it will just give them a little coating of spice.
And here’s the thing: A lot of people just throw the meat and veggies into the dish together. A lot of people like to just marinate the meat and veggies together.
I’ve done it a lot myself.
But some people don’t like the idea of marinating raw meat and raw veggies together.
I’m that way with chicken. But not with beef.
But for the purposes of this post, I showed them marinating separately to show you how easy it is.
Now, just stick ’em in the fridge and let ’em marinate for a good couple of hours.
When you’re ready to make the fajitas, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in a little olive oil or canola oil. Throw in the veggies…
And cook them, stirring them around…
Until they’re nice and golden, with some flecks of brown and black. I don’t like to let the veggies get soggy; I still want ’em to have a little bite!
Remove the veggies to a bowl or plate, then get the fixins ready: I crumbled up some queso fresco, which I love, but you can use any grated cheese, too!
I just grabbed some salsa and sour cream to go with the cheese, but if you want to whip up some pico de gallo and/or guacamole, I wouldn’t blame you one bit.
Drizzle some oil in the same skillet or on a grill pan if you have one, and throw on the flank steak. The heat needs to be very high!
Grill it for a minute at first, then rotate it 45 degrees on the same side to make lovely grill marks.
No more than a minute later, flip the flank steak…
To the other side and cook it, rotating it 45 degrees again, for a total of a minute, minute-and-a-half.
You don’t want to overcook the flank steak, and because it’s thin, it will cook in no time! So probably a total of 3 to 4 minutes is all you want to do…maybe even a little less.
I’m so terrified of overcooking beef. I avoid it at all costs.
Unless it’s ground beef. Then I cook the heck out of it with wild abandon.
When it’s done? Ta-da!
This looks good enough to eat.
Slice up the steak into thin strips…
And be sure to sneak a couple of bites. You have to confirm everything tastes good, right?
Then, when you’ve confirmed this, sneak a couple more bites.
Repeat as needed.
I think it’s fun to serve both the steak and the veggies directly on a cutting board.
It makes it appear very grabbable.
At the end, bring out some very, very warm flour tortillas so everyone can start to build! I started with veggies…
Some strips of beef…
Plenty of fromage, I mean queso…
A nice spoonful of very spicy salsa…
A dollop of sour cream…
And then, for a little freshness, a few cilantro leaves.
Uh…yum!
This is divination right here, baby.
Pure divination.
(And “divination,” I now know, means “fortune telling.” I’m awesome with vocabulary! Not.)
