I don’t make Mexican food very often so I had a Fiesta Night for dinner one night a week or two ago because I wanted to try a couple recipes I had modified from Rick Bayless’ show. I didn’t bother looking it up online or anything, just sort of jotted down a couple of the ingredients and the process then added my own elements to it. The results were quite tasty and I was very excited that I didn’t screw it up.

The Menu: Chili-lime chicken cutlets topped with fajita onions and peppers, roasted poblano, and cotija cheese served with Spanish saffron rice and sliced avocado.

The Ingredients:

The Process:

Seasoned the chicken cutlets with salt, pepper, cayenne, lime juice, and pan seared them in a hot, oven-proof skillet with garlic and olive oil. Once browned on each side, I finished it off in a 325 degree oven to keep it moist.

Roasted poblano pepper until slightly blistered, then tossed into a skillet with onions, garlic, olive oil, and red peppers until the onions had slightly caramelized.

Brought the stock and water to a boil then added all the ingredients in all at once and lowered to a simmer for 45 minutes until tender.

Topped chicken with Cotija cheese and onion-pepper mixture then placed under the broiler for a minute until cheese browned and peppers were heated through.

So easy! Minimal clean-up, and very happy bellies.