Bowl Full of Blessings: Fajita Valentines Dinner for Him

Over our almost thirteen year marriage, my husband Ben has come around from not liking anything that was fresh and made from scratch to having many favorites that only came out of my kitchen. He will even now reject certain menu items at restaurants because he says; “Unless my wife is working in the kitchen, it won’t compare to hers.” So flattering he is, but that means he is in the same picky state he was thirteen years ago, except his pallet has semi expanded since then.

I don’t know when I started making fajitas for him, but they were very time consuming and made such a mess in the kitchen that I would only make them on special occasions. Over the last five years I would almost exclusively make them on his birthday or for Valentine’s Day. My recipe has evolved, but I am still using commercial marinade. I haven’t found a recipe I like enough to switch over yet, but I am sure I will one day.

This recipe is simple, semi-homemade, and not quite as time consuming as it used to be. Or, I suppose, I could just be getting better and more efficient at making it.

OK ladies, gather up some simple ingredients and fire up the grill! Your husband and your family will love you for it!

Simple ingredients:

1 bottle of Marinade:

I normally use {Lawry’s Baja Chipotle} but we couldn't find it. Ben found this, {Lawry’s Santé Fe Chili} and I swear to you it’s the same thing. I don’t know that for sure but our taste buds tell is there is no difference.

1 Skirt/ Flank Steak

3 different colored bell peppers (we used yellow, orange, and green)

1 white onion

Flour Fajita tortillas

Now, again I got rolling on this dinner forgetting I was blogging about it and didn’t take pics of all the before stuff. So I will just commence on telling you how simple it is to make.

I first got to work on the veggies. I cut the bell peppers into thin strips and cut the onion into chunky half rings. Once those were all done I put them into a resalable plastic baggie. I put the flank steak in a baggie as well. I added the marinade to both bags, about a quart cup each. I swished everyone around and put in the fridge for a couple hours to get all yummy.

When I was ready to get started I pre-heat the oven to about 450 degrees and started the BBQ.

Once the oven was ready, I covered a baking sheet with foil and dumped the veggies out and spread them out.

I would love to grill these on the BBQ but I don’t have any grill baskets to keep them from becoming charcoal food. So, this process does a beautiful job of cooking the veggies, getting them charred and perfect. And the best part is the easy clean up. They are always s about perfectly done once we are ready to assemble our fajitas.

While the veggies cook and before I put the meat on the grill, I take my tortillas out and toast them on the grate till just warmed and toasted.

I put them in a foil packet and leave them outside to sit on top of the BBQ lid. It keeps them nice and warm while everything else cooks.

Once the fire is about right I put on the marinated meat.

For these fajitas I don’t wait for the coals to turn white, it’s a quick cook as the best fajitas are pretty med rare. We are looking for charring and caramelizing of the sugars in the marinade on both sides of the flank steak.