Cheesy Fajita Open-Faced Sandwich

Cheesy Fajita Sandwich

Here's a lunch that can be prepared in under 5 minutes. We had fajitas for dinner the night before so I put away two little portions for lunch the next day. The chicken breast strips come already cooked with fajita spices and can be found in the frozen section of the supermarket. Combined with strips of colourful sliced onions and sweet & hot peppers, the chicken fajita strips are laid on top of a mixture of grated Mexican cheese, mayonnaise and red pepper flakes with a sprinkling of fresh herbs.. Once toasted in the toaster-oven, the cheese melts and forms a creamy base for the chicken fajita. These open-faced sandwiches taste great on crusty Italian bread or tortillas.

Serve with a fresh salad and/or fruit. This meal is served with a 3 Bean Salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken fajita strips, cooked & frozen

1 cup sweet multi-coloured peppers, sliced

1 serrano pepper, sliced

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

2 Tbsp. grated Mexican cheese

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tsp. crushed dried red peppers

2 green onions, chopped

1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped

2 flour tortillas or 4 slices of toasted bread

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Toss chicken, peppers and onions in the hot oil until cooked but still crisp.
3. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Mix grated cheese, mayonnaise and red peppers in a bowl.
5. Spread on tortillas or bread, making sure to work all the way to the edges.
6. Top with prepared fajita strips and sprinkle with green onions & cilantro.
7. Toast in a toaster-oven just until cheese melts.
8. Serve right away with a salad and/or fruit.

Huevos Con Queso - Microwaved Eggs with Hot Peppers & Cheese

Microwaved Eggs with Hot Peppers & Cheese

The best dishes are created when one is ravenous. Lunch was late today because I had only myself to cater to. Earlier in the day, a Pinterest post caught my eye - 12 Ways to Cook Eggs in the Microwave. I've done that before with great success, so when my stomach began to growl, I raided the fridge and came up with this heartwarming and oh-so satisfying one-dish meal.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

1 wheat tortilla

1 cup left-over chicken fajitas or taco meat (optional)

1 handful cilantro, minced

1 green onion, minced

1 green chili, minced

2 Tbsp. grated cheese

Directions:

1. Break eggs into a microwave-safe dish and beat well with salt & pepper.
2. Tear tortilla into pieces and top with remaining ingredients, except cheese.
3. Mix everything together and microwave on high for 2-1/2 minutes. 
4. Sprinkle with cheese & microwave for another 30 seconds until eggs set.

Serve for lunch with fruit or salad for a hearty meal. Notice I didn't use any butter or oil so it's fat-free.

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Chicken Fajita Casserole

This deconstruction of a chicken fajita meal combines all its ingredients into a hot & bubbling casserole. I had to come up with something quick that would also appeal to our grandsons (6-8 year-olds) and this met the criteria, especially because we had chicken fajita strips in the freezer. The young boys and their grandparents enjoyed scooping it up with Doritos and heated flour tortillas.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (16 oz./1 lb.) fajita chicken strips, cubed or shredded
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced new potatoes
1 can (10.5 oz.) Campbell's cream of chicken soup
2 Tbsp. low-fat sour cream
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
1 pkg. (16 oz./2 cups) reduced fat grated cheese
6 stalks green onions, whites only chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Set aside 1 Tbsp. grated cheese for garnish.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together and place in an 8" x 8" Pyrex dish.
4. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, garnish with grated cheese.
5. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes more until cheese melts.
6. Serve hot with Doritos or tortillas.

I shared this on:

Ranchero Enchilada Casserole

Campbell's Kitchen sent me an eMail with the intriguing caption of 'Chicken Dinners in 3 Steps or Less!' Their recipe of the same name caught my eye. It was a cinch to make and delicious to eat! However, I had to adapt Campbell's recipe to the ingredients that were on hand. These ingredients have been provided below in the order in which they will be layered into the casserole dish.

Mayz' Taco Salad

Mayz spent the evening with us last week and on the way home I asked him, 'What is the most interesting thing you ate since we last saw you?' and he thought about it for a while and replied, 'Taco Salad!' With a vigorous nod of his head he said, 'It was very good!' He had it at home, his Mama made it and he gave me a list of everything in it. What he liked best about the Taco Salad were the Nachos that were crushed and mixed in with everything else.

This recipe is dedicated to Mayz, who is GrandBoy #2, age 6.

Loaded Baked Potato And Chicken Casserole

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

The inspiration piece at the link above is a healthy recipe. I made a few changes to pump up the flavour with the addition of fajita chicken strips and red pepper flakes. My recipe is much simpler and more straightforward because I've made use of several pre-cooked, ready-made products such as fajita chicken strips and diced potatoes which cut down the baking time by more than half. Before I added the sour cream to the casserole, it looked kind of dry. The outcome of this entire experiment could not have been more successful. It is delicious!