This is a regular staple in our house. I don't want to quite call it fajitas, because there is no meat, and there are beans, so we just refer to it as "mexican," even though I make lots of other kinds of Mexican and Southwestern food nowadays. In any case, it's easy, nutritious, inexpensive, and super yummy, and no-one has ever complained that we eat it too often. Every other week or so, I buy an avacado quite hard and unripe, because when you buy them ripe they're just bruised, and then just let it ripen on the counter, and whichever day it's ripe is Mexican day - yay!
Components:
Tortillas (I usually buy medium-sized whole wheat or multigrain)
Refried Black or Pito Beans (see below)
Fajita Veggies (see below)
Guacamole (see below)
Salsa (I like Herdez medium Mexican salsa)
Shredded Cheese (monterey jack is best, but cheddar works too)
Lettuce of some sort
Corn Tortilla Chips (I'm way into Neal Brothers organic blue corn chips right now - they're so fine and crispy, they make Tostitos seem like cardboard, but I particularly hate Tostitos, don't get me started...)
Maybe some Sour Cream if something turns out hot
Guacamole (make this first)
1 ripe avocado
1 small clove garlic
juice of 1 half lime (or a squirt of bottled, but freshly squeezed tastes better - you could use lemon)
1 tsp salsa
1 pinch cumin
1 green onion, chopped
salt and pepper
Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone, and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Press garlic with a press, or crush it an mince it up very fine. Mash the avocado, garlic, and lime juice with a fork. Stir in the salsa, cumin, S&P, and chopped green onion. Leave it to sit a while for the flavours to meld, but not so long that it turns brown - 1/2 hour to an hour - while you're making everything else. I've heard various tricks for making guacamole keep, but as far as I can tell none of them really work, and guacamole really only tastes good when it's fresh - so eat it all now and don't bother saving leftovers.
Refried Beans
Most of the time these days I buy canned. My brother Brian insists that home made are better, and he's right, but I find that if I make the beans then this dinner goes from a quick and easy weeknight affair to something much more complicated. You can find good quality canned refried beans everywhere these days, but watch out for heavy fat or MSG content, as there is a lot of variation between brands. I like PC low-fat refried beans, or the Eden or Amy's refried black beans.
If I'm making the beans, I always make black beans, and I either start early with dry beans and cook them up in simmering water with a bay leaf until they're reasonably tender (it depends how fresh your beans are how long this will take: 45 mins to an hour and a half - it'll go faster if you soak them first overnight, but it isn't really necessary), or I start with canned beans. Then:
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp or more ground cumin (sometimes I use whole)
1/4 tsp ground coriander
pinch garam masala
1/8 tsp chili flakes
salt to taste
fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans or one normal-sized can of black beans, rinsed
2 C water or veggie stock
In a medium sauce pan, saute onion in oil over medium-low heat for a good while until it is starting to brown. Add in the cumin, coriander, and garam masala, and let the spices toast up a bit. Stir in the garlic, and cook for a minute or so but be careful not to scorch it. Add in the beans and stock or water to cover. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, and adding in the chili, salt and pepper in the last five minutes or so. If it gets dry, add more water or stock, if it's too wet turn the heat up and stir it more. Mash with a potato masher. Can be made ahead and reheated, and freezes pretty well too, although it takes a long time to thaw.
Alternatively: open can, dump into a bowl and heat in the microwave (See, much easier).
Fajita Veggies
Ingredients will vary with the contents of my fridge:
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion
1 red, orange, or yellow pepper
1 large clove garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 a small zuchini or 1/2 cup of frozen corn niblets or whatever else I have kicking around
juice of the other half lime (or lemon)
salt and freshly ground pepper
Dice up vegetables or cut them into strips. I remove the seeds from the jalapeno, but you might like it hot and want to leave them in. Saute onion in oil until translucent, add the rest of the veggies and stir fry for a few minutes. Once they start to soften, sprinkle in the salt and pepper, which will help the veggies to give up their juices. When they do, squirt over the lime or lemon juice. Let them finish cooking as the juice evaporates.
Serve with all the rest of the components, and let everyone wrap their tortillas at the table. Arriba!
