Fajitas

INGREDIENTS:
 - 1 chicken breast per person (or equivalent of beef)
 - 1 onion per 2 people
 - 1 pepper (any colour) per 2 people
 - 3 tortillas per person
 - 1 pot of crème fraiche or soured cream
 - 1 little gem lettuce or half an iceberg lettuce
 - 1 jar / carton of passata (tomatoes)
 - Tomato puree (optional)
 - 2 dessert spoons of fajita spice mix or 1 sachet fajita spice mix
 - Sunflower or vegetable oil
 - Additional toppings such as jalapeno chillis, grated cheese


Cut the chicken into bitesize pieces - most easily done with a pair of scissors. Put these in a large bowl or casserole dish.
Chop the onion and pepper and add to the chicken in the bowl.
Mix in the spice mix plus approx. 2 dessert spoons of the oil and 1 dessert spoon of water.
You can also add a squirt of tomato puree at this stage as well if you want for a stronger tomato flavour.
Stir well and leave to marinade - overnight in the fridge is fine if covered in clingfilm / lid. It is also ok to start cooking this straight away without leaving to marinade.
Heat a big frying pan or wok, medium hot with no oil (non-stick pan is best).
Once the pan is hot add the chicken mix - stir occasionally until the chicken is cooked through (cut open a chicken piece and it will be white all the way through once cooked).
Add about a third of the passata - this creates the sauce but don't add too much as a wet sauce will leak through the tortillas and make them soggy.
Heat through until bubbling then serve in a clean casserole dish.
Serve with the tortillas (warmed for a few minutes in the oven or for a few seconds in the microwave is nice), chopped lettuce, grated  cheese, crème fraiche and any other toppings.

REMEMBER - wash carefully anything that has touched raw meat, including your hands! Don't use the same utensils and bowls with the cooked food as you did with the raw meat.

ALTERNATIVES:
The fajita recipe can be used in other meals, here are some suggestions:

NACHOS
Cook up the chicken as above.
Line a casserole dish / baking tin with nachos / tortilla crisps (any flavour but the cheapest available are fine).
Pour the chicken mix over the nachos and grate a good layer of hard cheese (such as cheddar) over the top.
Place under a hot grill until the cheese is bubbling.
Serve in the casserole dish (but be careful - it is hot!) - add spoonfuls of crème fraiche / soured cream, jalapeno chillis, guacamole.
Very good to share...

MEXICAN LASAGNE
Cook up the chicken as above.
Drain and rinse thoroughly in a sieve a tin of pre-cooked red kidney beans (not dried).
Once the chicken fajita mix is cooked, take off the heat and add the kidney beans.
In a casserole dish (ie an ovenproof dish) put a layer of flour tortillas in the bottom, add a layer of chicken mix, then another layer of tortillas, then another layer of chicken mix, and so on until all is used.
Finish with a tortilla layer, cover with crème fraiche and a good layer of grated cheese.
Cook in an oven at 180 c for approx. 30 mins.

QUESEDILLAS
Cook up the chicken mix, or if using leftovers then heat them through to ensure they are  hot.
Heat up a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat with no oil.
Put  a flour tortilla in the pan, flat.
Quickly add a couple of spoonfuls of the hot chicken mix, plus a handful of grated cheese.
Put another flour tortilla on top and press down with a spatula.
Cook for a couple of minutes, or until the bottom tortilla is starting to toast, then carefully flip over in the pan using the spatula.

This is a Mexican version of a toasted sandwich so a wide variety of fillings can be used as an alternative. Any tex mex dips left over from the night before can taste good added to your chosen filling.