7 OR LESS
Flavor chicken fajitas with cumin, chili
Associated Press
Sometimes making a fast meal involves throwing in less-than-desirable ingredients.
Associated Press
Well, here's a recipe that can be made from scratch in under half an hour without resort to ingredients of dubious nutritional value. It's a chicken fajita dish with sizzle and flavor, and it's from the "keep it simple" section of Health magazine's May issue, which offers "healthy weeknight meals in 30 minutes or less."
Chicken fajitas can be prepared in under 30 minutes with a recipe that's not overloaded with calories and fat. A salad of jicama and oranges with romaine lettuce makes a healthy side dish.
Suggested side dish: jicama and orange salad.
Sizzlin' Chicken Fajitas
- 2 cups bell pepper strips
- 2 cups thinly sliced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch strips
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Four 8-inch flour tortillas
Heat 2 teaspoons cooking or olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, cumin and chili; saute 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove mixture from skillet.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Return vegetable mixture to skillet. Stir in juice; cook until chicken mixture is thoroughly heated. Heat tortillas according to package directions.
Place 1 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla, roll up and serve.
Optional: Add 1 tablespoon shredded cheese, such as the packaged Mexican mixtures found in grocery stores.
Makes 4 servings (serving size: 1 fajita with 1 cup chicken mixture).
Nutrition information per serving (with cheese): 377 calories, 12 g total fat (4 g saturated), 69 mg cholesterol, 30 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 484 mg sodium.
Here's a healthful suggested side dish using jicama (pronounced hee-kama), also known as Mexican potato (on the Mainland) or Chinese potato (in Hawai'i).
Jicama and Orange Salad
- 10-ounce package romaine lettuce
- 2 cups orange sections
- 1 cup julienne-cut peeled jicama
- Bottled low-fat raspberry vinaigrette, to taste
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Combine lettuce with orange sections and jicama. Toss with vinaigrette to taste, and sprinkle with cilantro.
- Makes 4 servings (1 1/2 cups each serving).
