There’s More to Fajitas than Chicken

Today is National Mail Order Catalog Day, Ice Cream Pie Day and my personal favorite, Fajita Day. Although I will admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for Mail Order Catalogs. I can remember the Sears Christmas Catalog – as thick as a phone book and packed with all sort of childhood fantasies. Page after page, it was enough to put Santa’s Workshop to shame.

As a young girl, Mail Order Catalogs were also a source of paper dolls. My cousins and I would clip from the fashion pages for the people, and from the house ware pages for things like a dream kitchen or dining room table. We even decorated shoe boxes with chippings, stacking them together to create our dream “mansions”. Oh the good old days when imagination powered playtime.

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However; you cannot eat the pictures of food in catalogs and magazines no matter how delicious they may look. But you can make these delicious Fajitas in a single pan and celebrate a day set aside just for this awesome dish.

When we think Fajitas, so often we think chicken or steak. Yet one of the best and most often overlooked Fajita fillers has got to be succulent shrimp. What can I say but yum!

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas
1-1/2 lbs Large Shrimp
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 small Red Onion
1-1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 teaspoon New Mexican Hot Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Roasted Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Pinch Kosher Salt or to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste
6 Fajita Size Flour Tortillas
Fresh Cilantro for garnish
2 Lime

Rinse, peel and devein the shrimp. Keep chilled until ready to cook. Stem, core and slice the bell peppers into long thin strips. Set aside. Peel onion, trim ends and slice into long, thin slivers. Set aside.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine onion slivers, bell peppers, shrimp and olive oil. Toss to coat with oil to help spices cling better.

In a small bowl, whisk together salt, pepper, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Cumin and Smoked Paprika. Sprinkle over the shrimp mixture. Season with salt and pepper, toss to coat.

Spread shrimp mixture out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, leaving room for the tortillas in one corner. Set pan aside.

Lightly spray tortillas with cooking spray. Place tortillas on a large sheet of foil and wrap tightly. Place the wrapped tortillas on the sheet pan with the shrimp mixture, place in the heated oven. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes.

While shrimp cooks, chop cilantro for garnish. Cut limes into quarters and set aside.

Remove tortillas from the sheet pan, set aside and keep warm.

Turn oven to broil and cook for additional 2 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through and the peppers beginning to blister.

Squeeze juice from 1 or 2 lime quarters over fajita mixture, tuck remaining lime wedges around the sheet pan. Garnish the shrimp with fresh cilantro. Unwrap tortillas, place on the pan and serve.

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Feeling ambitious? How about making your own Hand-Pressed Tortillas? And maybe change things up a bit with Frijoles Negros. Yeah, and let’s not forget those awesome Margaritas!

Cadillac Margarita
2 Limes
1 Orange
4 Margarita Glasses
Margarita or Coarse Salt as needed
8 oz Tequila (2 oz per glass)
4 oz Triple Sec (1 oz per glass)
4 oz Lime Juice (1 oz per glass)
Float of Grand Marnier (1 float per glass)

Cut 1 lime into wedges. Set wedges aside. Cut remaining lime into round wheels, set aside. Cut orange into round wheels; set aside.

Rub the rim of 4 margarita glasses with the lime wedges. Dip glasses into the salt to coat the rim. Set aside.

In a cocktail shaker, combine 2 ounces of Tequila with 1 ounce of Triple Sec and 1 ounce of lime juice. Fill shaker with ice. Shake well.

Add ice to one margarita glass. Strain mixed cocktail into the glass. Add a float of Grand Marnier. Garnish with a lime and an orange wheel.

Repeat for each remaining three Margarita.