Ooooh, I think I have concocted a new Sunday-cookout favorite.
As I put together this week’s menu plan, my thoughts, as usual, drifted to what I could possibly grill out for our weekly barbecue. Now, I love all the usual suspects – riffs on burgers, or veggie dogs, or tofu, or Portobello mushrooms. But I wanted to do something different this week. Something unexpected.
Something involving my never-been-used new vegetable-grilling pan, given to me by LeeLee a little while back. Something like … fajitas!
So this afternoon I got to work. I sliced my last Vidalia onion into thin half-moons, gave a red bell pepper the same treatment, and washed off a container of sliced white button mushrooms, putting them all into a large zip-top bag. To the veggie mixture I added several tablespoons of olive oil and plenty of chipotle powder, garlic powder, and ground cumin. Then I sealed the bag up and massaged the marinade into the vegetables, putting them back into the fridge to soak up the goodness for a while before I fired up the grill and turned the rice cooker on.
When it came time to cook, it couldn’t have been easier. I placed the grill pan on the grill grate, poured in the veggies, and then placed four Gardein chik’n filets on the grate as well. Every few minutes, I flipped everything around, and after about 15 minutes, the veggies were cooked through and the chik’n was nicely seared. After I took the chik’n off, I added a foil packet full of flour tortillas just to heat them up a bit, and then dinner was ready!
Let me just say: These fajitas were fantastic. The onions, peppers, and mushrooms had a great smoky taste – the spice blend really melded well with the grilling technique – and we loved the addition of chik’n, something we’re never able to get at restaurants! We topped our fajitas with the works – vegan sour cream, Daiya pepperjack shreds, lettuce, sliced black olives, diced tomato, and the piece de resistance, a spicy sauerkraut from No. 1 Sons, which we absolutely adored. Paired with the rice, the fajitas made an extremely filling meal – with plenty left over for lunch tomorrow!
With that, we’ve deemed the grilled fajitas a success. And it’s safe to say they’ll be part of the usual suspects in very short order!
:)