It’s the end of the week, and my husband and I wanted something different. Vegan fajitas to the rescue! We usually have meat at dinner, but neither of us missed it tonight. These fajitas were quick, tasty, and easier to make than I thought they would be. Plus it’s super versatile, and you can add any toppings you like. We went with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and salsa.
The Ingredients
The ingredients looked so yummy in the crisper, that we had both looked forward to these all week. Don’t let the long list of ingredients intimidate you like they did me. I expected the prep work to take a long time, but it went very quickly. Measuring the spices and chopping the vegetables was done in just 15 minutes, then on to cooking up my fajitas.
How to Core and Slice Bell Peppers in a Flash
I found a great technique for seeding and slicing bell peppers a few years ago. I’m a big fan of making things easy, especially when I’m coming home to cook after work on a weekday.
1) Trimming
Turn the pepper on its side, and slice off the top and bottom with a chef's knife.
2) Coring
Take a paring knife and slice the core out along the membranes attaching it to the outside of the pepper. Remove the core.
3) Remove any extra membrane
Use the paring knife to remove any remaining white membrane, if needed.
4) Cut the pepper in half
Set the pepper onto one of the sliced ends (top or bottom), and cut it in half.
5) Slicing
Place both halves together and slice vertically.
6) Voila!
I had all 4 peppers sliced up in 5 minutes using this method, and the size was perfect for filling the small fajita-style tortillas
The Process
The author does specifically mention cooking everything in a cast-iron skillet. I have a couple (I remember packing them when we moved), but I can’t find them. They were there 8 years ago… I ended up using a regular skillet without a non-stick coating and was able to get a similar charring on the onions and peppers. It really adds flavor.
This recipe didn’t include times for prepping and cooking the fajitas, but it was ready to eat in about 30 minutes. The veggies didn’t take nearly as long to prepare as I thought, and they cooked quickly. The onions cooked in the 3 minutes as specified in Step 2. The peppers, Step 3, took 8 minutes to soften and char a bit. The smell was heavenly at this point!
Step 2, the mushrooms and spices, took 2 minutes, but I did have a problem on this step. I added a generous amount of extra oil, then the mushrooms, then the spice mixture. Unfortunately, the spices burned and caused my husband and me to have coughing fits. I already had the overhead fan on, but we still had to open the kitchen windows and air out the house. Eek! Next time I’ll try seasoning everything at the end of cooking when I mix all the vegetables in the skillet (Step 5).
