I didn't start out the day making Zucchini Fajitas. I saw someone with margarita glasses in their cart at Costco the other day. Now, I'm always on the lookup for cocktail glasses that I don't have. I'm not the biggest cocktail person on the planet. But there is something quintessential about margaritas glasses. And I am absolutely missing them in my collection. So, at the sight of them in bulk at a discounted price?? I was absolutely going to go and track down those glasses. While I was at it, they also had an entire fajita set for two. Now, while I ordinarily cook for one or an entire hoard of people at a potluck all at once? I broke out one of these to test out on myself. That is, after my cat sufficiently claimed the entire box as her own.
Now, there is one important thing that I have noted about this fajita set and that is: You cannot actually use it to cook your fajitas. I'm sure that it is the perfect size for cooking whatever roasted meat that fajitas ordinarily consist of. Although I don't tend to eat much meat, so I opted for the entirely vegetable variety here.
The thing about sautéing produce, though, is that it does actually cook down. Fruits and vegetables tend to shrink when cooked. This means that, while all of the produce will eventually fit on the small skillet that it provides? They start out quite a bit larger than this end result. So, I ended up cooking the fruits and vegetables in a larger skillet before transferring it to the more ornamental skillet for serving.
Gallery Zucchini Fajitas
Variations of
I'm almost surprised that this is the first time that I've made fajitas. I suppose that it was the lack of fajita pan that held me back? Although it was the least useful thing in this process, it did make it kind of fun! And, obviously, I needed a push in this direction. I do make quite a bit of things that are fajita adjacent, like burritos, enchiladas, and any number of sautéed fruits and vegetables.
Cook on low for 8 hours, or until the desired consistency is reached. I like to start the beans in the morning and then come back to then after work or before bed to wake up to freshly cooked beans.
Remove the bay leaves before serving.
Corn Tortillas
On a large flat countertop, make a mound of masa harina. Create a crater in the middle and add olive oil and salt, if using.
Pour 1/2 cup hot water into the center. Mix together by hand, kneading dough toward the center, for 3 minutes, or until the dough begins to stick together.
Add additional hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and knead until the dough forms and entirely sticks together. Be careful not to add too much water. You want to add the least amount of water necessary to make the dough soft and pliable!
Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut 3 of the 4 sides off of a plastic bag.
After 30 minutes, form dough into 1 square-inch balls.
Place a ball of dough inside of the plastic bag and place inside of the tortilla press.
Preheat a skillet on high heat.
Place the tortilla in the center of the heated pan. Let cook for 30 seconds on each side, or until the tortilla begins to brown, but is still soft and pliable.
Cover with a towel to keep warm and pliable.
Fajitas
Preheat a large skillet on medium-high heat with high heat oil.I have a fajita serving skillet that you can see in the photos above. However, it's important to note that this is for serving only. While it is an actual cast iron skillet that can be used to cook, it's not large enough to cook a full batch of produce down.So, I used a larger skillet and then heated the ornamental one and transferred it afterwards for presentation. This is a little ridiculous and I'd recommend just putting everything on a plate! But this is an option, if you'd like to be as excessive as I was here.
Add thinly sliced produce to the skillet and cook for 7-10 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally in order to cook evenly. The edges of the peppers should lightly char.
Remove from heat.
Plate with tortillas, beans, sautéed produce, sliced avocado, lime wedges, and a dash of salt and pepper.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For more tips and tricks, I have an entire article on The Fundamentals of Stovetop Black Beans. This article can be particularly helpful if you want to soak the beans overnight beforehand. I also have another article on The Fundamentals of Slow Cooker Black Beans if you'd prefer to use a crock pot, instead of the stove. This takes 8 about hours, but is hands off and doesn't require soaking the beans.
If you don't have a tortilla press, make sure to use the flattening method, instead of trying to roll them out with a rolling pin! It might sound like you could flour a large surface and attempt roll them out. But the sheer amount of flour needed to do this would leave your final tortillas with a chalky texture, if you could get them to roll out without falling apart at all.
Masa harina is gluten free. However, there is a lot of potential for cross contamination during the grinding process. If you have celiac disease, make sure to find a brand of masa that doesn't use the same machinery to grind flours with gluten in them.
Leave a Reply