Simple Supper Monday, Vol. 68: Chimchurri Fajitas

Ok. So, here's what's going to happen:


1) You are going to read this post.
2) You are going to begin to salivate and twitch.
3) You will be unable to contain yourself from running to the grocery store and buying the ingredients so you can immediately make this meal.


Yes. It's that good.


The other day, Hubby was listening to his fave radio station, NPR.  On one particular show, a cookbook author was on promoting her new book and sharing her recipes. Tara Desmond compiled the book, Almost Meatless, and in it, she shares the recipe I am about to share with you below. Hubby said that when they were talking about the book (and the recipe) it sounded great (in that we will probably be going to buy the book tomorrow). The fact that it was high on veggies, low on meat and overall much more healthy was a super added bonus.


I was inspired by his excitement, and put it on the menu plan for this week.  I held off posting my Simple Supper recipe earlier today, because I wanted to try this recipe out first before sharing it with you.


OH. MAH. GAH.


It was amazing.  Like so amazing.  We couldn't get over the...amazingness.  And it felt so good that it was healthy.  This is a keeper for sure, and we plan on making it again very soon.


And so shall you.


(We did, as per the usual, tweak and make some substitutions. See Notes below the post)

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Simple Supper Monday

Chimichurri Fajitas

serves 6-8

(from Tara Desmond's book, Almost Meatless)

Photo taken from WHYY webpage

For the Chimichurri

• 4 cups loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
• 2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 medium jalapeño, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil

For the Fajitas

• 1 medium green zucchini (about 1 pound), sliced ¼ inch thick lengthwise
• 1 medium yellow zucchini (about 1 pound), sliced ¼ inch thick lengthwise
• Salt and pepper
• 1 medium red onion, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rings
• 1 flank steak or skirt steak (about 1½ pounds)
• 12 or more 6-inch flour or corn tortillas
• 1 cup sour cream (optional)
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

1. To make the Chimichurri: Combine the parsley, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, cumin seeds, salt, pepper, lime juice, and vinegar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse three or four times, forming a coarse paste. With the processor running, add the oil through the food chute in a steady stream, forming a textured sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Reserve ¼ cup of the sauce for the marinade, and transfer the rest to a small serving bowl and set aside.

2. To make the fajitas fixings, lightly brush the zucchini strips with half of the reserved chimichurri, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place in a zippered storage bag along with the onion.

3. Season the steak with pepper and rub the remaining chimichurri on both sides. Let the zucchini and the steak sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the grill to medium-high.

5. Season the steak with salt and grill for 6 to 8 minutes per side for medium-rare. At the same time, grill the zucchini slices and onion rings for about 3 minutes per side, until grill marks appear and the vegetables are just tender. Transfer the grilled zucchini and onions to a plate, stacking them so the heat continues to cook them a bit. Grill the tortillas for about 30 seconds per side, until warm and slightly blackened. Wrap in foil to keep warm.

6. Remove the steak from the grill and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Slice the meat very thin, across the grain.

7. To assemble the fajitas, pile 2 strips of steak and several pieces of zucchini and onion on each grilled tortilla. Drizzle with chimichurri sauce and roll it up, or leave the assembly to the crowd. Serve with sour cream and cheese if you like.

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Notes:

1) Along with the veggies noted in the recipe, we also grilled up a red pepper and a yellow pepper.

2) We did not have fresh oregano, and for the life of me, I could not find it at my grocery store. They had, like, every other fresh herb known to Man. I digress.  We substituted 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried/crushed oregano for the 1/4 cup of fresh oregano.

3) We already had a VERY good Chimichurri recipe, so we used that instead of the one printed above.  The recipe we have was given to us by our good friend, Diane. It is a Cat Cora recipe. And we've decided you could eat it on just about anything.  If you are interested in trying Our/Diane/Cat's Chimichurri recipe:

Chimichurri Recipe #2

For about 3 lbs meat (Chicken, Pork or Steak) ~

Place into a food processor or blender:

·         1/3 cup sherry vinegar

·         6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

·         4 dried bay leaves

·         2 poblanos, stemmed and roughly chopped*

·         2 serranos, stemmed and roughly chopped*

Pulse until smooth.

Add:

·         1 cup packed fresh flat leaf/ AKA Italian parsley leaves

·         1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

·         ¼ cup packed fresh oregano leaves

Pulse until you have a coarse paste.

With the motor running, slowly pour in ¾ olive oil. You’ll know when it’s done—but it comes together fast.

Transfer to a bowl; add 1 ¼ tsp salt and stir.

*The seeds, of course, should be kept per your taste for heat;  the serranos are very hot (if you don’t know them).

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Wow, ok so you've been awarded a Twofer Simple Supper post (ie: 2 recipes for the price of 1).  Lucky you!  I hope your July 4th cookouts were a success.  And I trust you will be heading to the grocery store tomorrow so you can make THIS recipe for dinner tomorrow night :)


Let me know how this turns out for you! And, as always, I'd love to read and try YOUR recipes!  So send them my way!


moderndaydonnareed@gmail.com