Rare Blends - Almost Indian Fajitas

I'm one of those people who like a little variety in their food. Sometimes, we have the ingredients ready to cook and I just feel like something different. One evening when I had originally planned to cook It's Nothing Like Chicken Fajitas I wondered how I could make it a little different

I had some left over Almost Indian-style pumpkin in the fridge so I came up with this Rare Blend - Almost Indian Fajitas. I offset the sweetness of the pumpkin with some chopped onion and a little yogurt.

Almost Indian Fajitas

Ingredients

A chicken breast

A pinch of chilli powder

A squeeze of lemon

A splash of olive oil

A pinch of salt

A couple of dollops of pre-cooked pumpkin

A small red onion

A tub of Greek-style yogurt

A couple of wholewheat tortillas

When cooking the pumpkin, I simply sautéed it in some mustard oil with a pinch of cumin and a little chopped red chilli.

You could use white tortillas but, not only do they not look so much like chapatis as the whole wheat ones, they aren't so healthy.

Equipment

A heavy bottomed grill pan

Method

Slice the chicken breast into "fingers" and then marinade them in the lemon juice, olive oil and chilli powder.

Heat the grill pan, once it is hot sprinkle a little salt over the chicken and grill quickly until the meat is fully cooked whilst still moist.

Remove the chicken from the pan and a let in rest for a couple of minutes.

Chop the onion.

In the meantime, chop the onion and spread a dollop of pumpkin on each tortilla.

Once the chicken has rested, place a couple of fingers on each tortilla and sprinkle a little onion on top.

A couple of spoons of yogurt nicely tops the dish off.

Fold and eat!

Rare Blends - Moroccan Greek Salad

We often serve something that resembles a Greek salad as an accompaniment to our meals at The Chubby Chops. They're quick to prepare and compliment many dishes. I always add a few ingredients that you wouldn't normally find in a Greek salad such as apples and sultanas.

One evening, I thought I'd go a step further and came up with my Moroccan Greek salad. It looks quite interesting but, to be honest, it tasted a little bit flat. Still if you don't try, you'll never know. 

Perhaps the orange wasn't as juicy as it could have been? Perhaps a little rose water sprinkled over the orange would have helped? A pinch of cumin? A few quite minor changes could make this into a family favourite. See what you can come up with.

Moroccan Greek Salad

Ingredients

A tomato or two

A small cucumber

A small dessert apple

A chunk of feta cheese

Some black olives

A few sultanas

An orange

A handful of mint leaves

The juice of half a lemon

Some olive oil

Honey to taste

When it comes to the volume of olive oil, I usually squeeze the lemon first and use somewhere between two and three times as much olive oil.

Good quality black grapes, sliced in two, are even better than sultanas.

No need for salt, the feta cheese has plenty of it.

Equipment

A salad bowl

Method

Squeeze the lemon into the bowl, poor in the olive oil, add the honey, and stir vigorously. (You could use a whisk, I usually use a fork).

Very roughly chop the tomato, cucumber and apple. When chopping the apple it is best to discard the core. Add them to the bowl.

Throw in the olives and sultanas.

Cube the feta cheese and add it to the bowl.

Now stir gently so that everything in the bowl get nicely coated with the dressing.

Next peel the orange, cut it into small cubes, and add it to the bowl.

Give the salad one more very careful stir so that the orange mixes with the other ingredients.

Finally, tear the mint leaves and spread them over the salad.