Fajita Night

A few weeks ago, we had some friends over for dinner. We were going to be busy most of the day leading up to dinner, so I wanted to make something I could easily prepare ahead of time and not have to spend much time cooking once they arrived. One of my go-to meals in situations like this is chicken fajitas. You can marinate the meat ahead of time, so all you have to do is throw it on the grill when your guests arrive. And who doesn't like fajitas?

I have come up with my own fajita marinade that I adapted from one my mom often made when I was growing up. It's so simple, and you can add or subtract different ingredients to suit your tastes.

In a bowl, combine:

• 1 cup olive oil
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
• 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• Generous dash of pepper

Place 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a baking dish, zip top bag or other container. Pour marinade over chicken. Flip chicken over and move around to ensure marinade covers all of the meat. Cover dish. Leave chicken in marinade for at least 2 hours or longer, up to overnight.

Grill chicken until cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from grill and slice diagonally. Serve in warm tortillas. We warmed our tortillas on the top rack of the grill. It's easy to warm them on the grill, just don't do it directly over the flame...charred tortillas aren't too tasty! Add the toppings of your choice. We had black beans, cheese, guacamole and some of my homemade salsa. 

I usually cook extra chicken when we make fajitas because the leftovers are great for quesadillas or nachos the following day.