Fajita In A Bowl

I love fajitas, but I find the tortillas often make it too filling. So I decided to take fajita fixings and turn them into a rice bowl. What's not to love about that?

What is A Fajita

According to my friends at Wikipedia, a fajita is a Tex-Mex dish comprised of strips of grilled meat served with strips of grilled bell pepper and onions usually served with flour or corn tortillas. That's easy enough to turn into a rice bowl, right?

Watch Me Make It

The Recipe

As is so often the case, this is a pretty loosey-goosey recipe. You can easily scale it up or down, change up the ingredients, and make it your own.

Ingredients (to make about 2 bowls)

• 1/2 cup of white rice, cooked in 1 cup of water

• 1 can of black beans, rinsed

• 1 sweet onion (vidalia), cut into strips

• 2 bell peppers, cut into strips

• 12-14 large shrimp (optional)

• olive oil

• 1-2 limes

• fresh cilantro

• fajita spice or cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, cayenne, and black pepper

Instructions

1. Marinate your shrimp in a combination of olive oil, lime juice, and "fajita" spice. If you are making your own, just use a blend of the spices listed above. The specific amount is to taste, but I have them listed in order of quantity, so use a lot of cumin, a little less chili powder, even less garlic powder, etc. The cayenne makes it spicy, so keep that in mind when deciding how much to add.

2. Cook your rice.

3. Heat your beans in a small saucepan.

4. In a large cast iron skillet, a wok, or a grill basket on the grill, cook the peppers and onions over high heat until just tender. Consider adding more fajita spices here if you want to add more flavor. Add in the shrimp for the last couple of minutes. Shrimp cook fast and if you overcook shrimp, they become rubbery, so be careful.

5. Serve everything together in a bowl.

Variations

You got it! There are so many ways to change this up!

The Protein - I used shrimp but you can use steak, chicken, pork, fish, tofu, seitan... just cut your protein into strips or bite-sized cubes, marinate it, and cook for the appropriate time to cook through. Or, skip this and let the beans be your protein.

The Beans - Black beans seem like the best choice for a Tex-Mex dish, but you can use whatever you have and whatever you like; pinto beans, white navy beans, kidney beans, or even garbanzo beans!

The Veggies - Onions and Bell Peppers are standard. You could get fancy with different colors or bell peppers, or maybe add a spicy pepper too! But feel free to throw in any other veggies you want! Off the top of my head, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, or cauliflower all sound great.

The Rice - I prefer white rice in my rice bowls, but brown rice makes it feel chewier and more filling. A wild rice blend would be fun or, if you want, skip the rice and go for another grain like quinoa or farro. You can cook the rice/grain in water with some salt. Or, consider using broth or very diluted tomato sauce to add more flavor.

Toppings/ Serving Suggestions - Top with more cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Serve with slices of avocado or a scoop of guacamole, homemade salsa, freshly chopped tomato, and tortilla chips.

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