Chicken Mango Fajitas

In the past month or so, a lot has happened.  I quit my job of 4+ years, moved away from Pittsburgh (my home of 8 years), and moved with my boyfriend to Takoma Park, MD.  Being in a new area, looking for a job, and living with a significant other for the first time have offered a lot of challenges along with lots of excitement.  Overwhelmingly cliche, I know.  I pretty much agreed to move to Takoma Park, a cute tree-filled community bordering DC, before ever visiting it.  So much of enjoying an area is knowing how to do it right and being a part of the community there.  Luckily, a former coworker of mine was able to give me the info of his sister-in-law and Vince (the boyfriend) has coworkers here that have been giving us some insights.  We've been trying to budget well (emphasis on the trying..) so that of course means smart grocery shopping, packing lunches, and making dinners.  As we meal planned for the week, Vince suggested quesadillas, which turned into this meal.  I had a moment of "should I buy the packaged fajita seasonings?" which was immediately followed with "of course not, I have a recipe!" With advice from one of our TP mentors, we checked out a grocery store called Shoppers, which was priced very well.  I'm not sure if we went on a bad day or what, but our cheap bell peppers needed to be used quickly.  What better way to use them but one of my fav recipes - Chicken Mango Fajitas.

During the few weeks we've been living together I've already made this recipe twice, with the second time being our first time having a friend over for dinner at our new place!  It was also a go to for dinner's in Pittsburgh.  Finally, I'm sharing the recipe.

Chicken Mango Fajitas

From Healthy Chic Eats

Marinade:
1 Tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 2 oranges)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, chopped (use the other half as garnish)
1 teaspoon lime juice

Meal:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into strips 

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 tea cumin
1 tea chili powder

3 bell peppers, assorted colors, seeded, cored, thinly sliced

1 semi-firm mango, peeled, diced

2 tea olive oil for sauteing

large tortillas

Garnishes/Toppings:

Sour Cream

Cheese

Salsa

Jalapenos

Instructions:

Combine all marinade ingredients with the chicken strips in a Ziploc bag.  Shake to mix and coat.  Let set in fridge for at least 1-2 hours.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Drain out marinade from chicken bag.  When hot, add in chicken and onions.  Saute until chicken is thoroughly cooked.  Add in paprika, cumin, and chili power, coating chicken in spices. Add in peppers and mango and cook for additional 3-5 minutes. Serve with tortillas and other delicious garnishes.

Okay so reliving this has made me have to take a break to eat the leftovers.  


Back to those cheap but super ready-to-eat peppers.  Turns out it's really easy to freeze peppers.  You just lay them flat on a tray, not touching each other or the sides for an hour or so and then you can throw them in a bag.  Theses were great in a breakfast burrito.