Fajitas to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo Day!

Making your own fajitas is a fun way to celebrate the Mexican American culture and Cinco de Mayo Day on May 5th - or any day. This is a delicious recipe with easy to find ingredients, many of which you may already have in your kitchen cupboard and refrigerator. Make it spicy with a lot of sour cream to put out the fire. Or, tone it down with fewer spices and mild salsa.

Gather up the herbs and spices, clean and cut up the veggies, slice or buy already sliced up beef, get favorite soft flour tortillas, and you’re all set to start stirring up a delicious meal.

Slice and marinade your meat for about 30 minutes. This gives you plenty of time to cut up the veggies, warm up the flour tortillas and set out the salsa (I’m a mild advocate) with the sour cream and any other condiments you like. Maybe some extra hot sauce for those a little more adventurous with spiciness than me.

Get things sautéing in a skillet on the stove and you’re almost ready to serve. The veggies will sauté fairly fast as will the meat since it’s thinly sliced. Once everything’s mixed together and sauteed, it’s time to serve it up. Scoop the meat and veggie mixture onto flour tortillas and roll it up. With salsa and sour cream on the side, it’s a complete meal. Or, add refried beans, rice, roasted corn and a green salad for more delicious colors and textures.

While I was researching the holiday of Cinco de Mayo, I found it’s celebrated here in the USA much more so than in Mexico. I also found that it’s not about Mexican Independence Day (so many people in the USA assume), which is actually in September. It’s a yearly celebration held on May 5 to celebrate Mexico’s victory over the the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. So, for whichever reason you celebrate on Cinco de Mayo Day, do it in style with some spicy and delicious food to share with friends and family.

This recipe serves 2-3 people.

Gather the Ingredients:

½ - ¾ # Sirloin beef steak, sliced in thin strips

2-3 T Extra virgin olive oil

1 T Lime juice, fresh squeezed

1 Garlic clove, peeled and diced

½ t Chili powder

¼ t Garlic powder

¼ t Onion powder

½ t Cumin

½ t Red pepper flakes, hot

¼ t Pepper, black

¼ t Salt

1 Onion, medium, cut into strips

3 Sweet peppers, green, yellow, orange

1 Carrot, large, cut in strips

6-8 Tortillas, flour

Salsa

Sour Cream

Make and serve:

-Wrap your flour tortillas in foil and place in a preheated oven at 350F degrees. Leave in for 10-15 minutes to heat through. Or, you can lay the tortillas on a plate and heat in the microwave. Heat for 10-15 second increments, checking them between each segment.

-Cut the sirloin beef into very thin slices and set aside. I cut across the grain so as to eliminate any stringiness in the meat.

-Mix 2 T of the oil along with the spices, diced garlic and fresh lime juice in a bowl.

-Add the meat strips into the bowl and stir so all the pieces are covered by the spice mixture. Set aside for about 30 minutes to marinade.

-Clean and slice the onion, peppers and carrot into strips. I slice the carrots very thin since they usually take a bit longer to get tender.

-Put 1-2 T EVOO into a 10-12” skillet and heat on medium.

-Add the onion and pepper strips and heat until translucent, stirring occasionally, until just a little crispy. If you like the veggies charred, turn the heat and cook until you get the appearance you prefer.

-Take the veggies out of the skillet and set aside in a bowl. Keep the heat on medium.

-Place the beef strips in the skillet and sauté. Flip the pieces of meat so they cook on both sides until the redness is gone. If you like the meat charred, turn the heat up and cook a little longer. Keep in mind that it can get tough if cooked too long.

-Place the onions, peppers and carrots back into the skillet with the sirloin. Cover and heat through on medium low for a couple of minutes. You’re ready to enjoy!

Serve it up in individual servings or family style:

-To serve, place the meat and vegetable mixture (with the meat juices) in a large low serving bowl, alongside a plate with the warm tortillas.

-Add bowls of sour cream, salsa, refried beans, tortilla chips and lettuce to finish off your fajitas. Enjoy!

Storage:

-Save any leftovers in a covered dish in the refrigerator for one or two days.

-I have never tried freezing it – it simply disappears before there’s any left to freeze.

However you celebrate Cinco de Mayo Day, do it with family, friends and a lot of delicious food to honor the Mexican American culture and “Bake your own Memories!”