Recipe of the Week - Chicken Fajitas (with wheat-free tortilla wraps)

I love chicken fajitas. Back in the days before I had boys with allergies, I used to buy the boxed fajita kits. You know, the ones where you cook your own chicken & onions then add the sachet of spice mix. The tortillas and salsa are also included in the box.

Unfortunately the spice mix also contains wheat, and the tortilla wraps are obviously a no-no for Calum & Alasdair.

So, I read what spices were in the mix and set about making my own version. At first, I would serve our fajitas with the wraps and cook some potato wedges for Calum, or give him some of his own bread rolls to have with his, as I have never been able to source wheat-free tortillas. Even the corn ones have some wheat in them.

Then one day, after reading an Indian cookbook about making chapatis, I thought if chapatis are just flour and water then tortillas could work the same. They were a success, and Calum loved his own special wraps. I should point out that they won't be as pliable as the flour ones. They are a bit firmer, but you can still put the fajita mix in the middle and fold it over into a wee parcel. 

For the fajitas you will need:

500g (roughly) of chicken, chopped into thin-ish slices

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 sliced pepper, green, red or yellow

1/2 tsp (or more if you want) chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

3 tsp paprika

1 lime, zest of half of it and the juice of all of it

handful of chopped fresh coriander 

For the tortillas you will need:

8oz Doves Farm SR Wheat-Free flour

cold water

~Heat a wok or frying pan with a little oil until hot and sizzling and heat another frying pan or griddle for the tortillas.

~Add the onions & garlic to the oiled pan and soften, then add the chicken, stirring often.

~While the chicken is browning, mix in enough cold water to the flour to make a dough. I find the best way to do this is to add a little at a time and mix the flour around with a knife.

~Take a little handful of the dough, roll into a ball, place on a floured surface and roll out quite thinly. These are quite easy to break so don't make them too big. 

~Place on your other pan/griddle and cook for just a couple of minutes each side. Wrap in a bundle of foil to keep warm while you make the rest.

~Once the chicken looks like it is properly browned all over (about 10 minutes) add the chilli, cumin, ground coriander, paprika, and sliced pepper.

(I also have a pan of broccoli steaming in the background as little Alasdair loves his broccoli!)

~Continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked throughout.

~Add the lime zest, juice and chopped coriander.

~Put the wraps and pan of chicken on the table, along with some salsa, guacamole, lettuce and sour cream (for those who are allowed it!) and let everyone assemble their own fajitas with whatever they choose.

~I'm afraid to confess that my boys are Philistines and choose to add tomato sauce instead of salsa! 

Tweet

Recipe of the Week - Thai Green Chicken

I love a nice Thai Green Curry. I also love a Thai Red Curry, but the shop bought curry pastes are not always suitable for food allergy sufferers. Those that I did find that were suitable also tended to be a bit on the spicy side for young children.

So I set about trying out recipes using a home-made paste. Often these would mean pureeing the lemon grass stalks in the paste and I wasn't too keen on the texture this gave.

So with a few tweaks I settled on my own recipe. You don't need to make up a paste first but the flavours are all still there. It's a nice easy weeknight dinner, don't be put off by the list of ingredients. 

You will need:

6 spring onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped

1-2 green chillies, finely chopped (add more if you like it hot!)

500g chicken breasts

2 sticks lemongrass

2 lime leaves (if you can't find these you can leave them out)

1 lime, both the zest and the juice

1 tin of coconut milk

handful chopped, fresh coriander

handful broccoli florettes

handful baby corn

handful mangetout

~Heat a little oil in a wok, or large pan and add the onions, garlic, ginger and chillies.

~Soften for a couple of minutes then add the chicken and brown.

~Bruise the lemongrass to help release the flavour and add along with the lime leaves, lime zest, lime juice, coconut milk and coriander.

~Bring to the boil, then pop a lid on the pan and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

~Add the broccoli and baby corn and simmer for another 6-10 minutes, depending how crunchy you like your veg!

~If you are adding the mangetout, just add this a couple of minutes before the end.

~Garnish with some more chopped coriander and serve with some sticky Thai rice. Prawn crackers are optional, but essential in this house!

Tweet