Phoenix Archives - I am a Honey Bee

I’ve been feeling quite proud of myself lately for the fact that I have been cooking dinner during the week for us. Earlier on when I was dead tired to the world we did the cereal and boxed mac and cheese thing quite regularly. This week we only had cereal for dinner once!

And I’ve been baking. Maybe it’s the nesting stuff kicking in? I thought that would be more related to things like laundry, cleaning, and decorating, though. Either way people in my and Price’s office seem to enjoy it when I bring in goodies. I’m just making it up to them in advance for my 3 months away while on maternity leave.

Ugh, don’t get me started on maternity leave. 12 weeks?!?!? That is going to go by in a blink of an eye. :-/ I’m sure there will be plenty of nights of cereal or boxed mac and cheese during that time period was well… it all comes in cycles.

Well, one of the yummy things I whipped up this week for dinner were these Chicken Fajitas. I had them in mind to celebrate this weekend’s NASCAR race in Phoenix. I couldn’t resist making fajitas for my Sprint Cup Snacks series once I had that them in my head!

I actually prepped these one morning before work by making the marinade, trimming the chicken, and setting it all up to marinate for the day. So when I got home all I had to do was take out the chicken, cut up the veggies, assemble the toppings, and just cook the chicken and then the veggies. It all came together quite quickly and nicely. Plus you cook the chicken and then the veggies using the same pan so clean up was pretty quick too!

These chicken fajitas will be a hit at your house this weekend or any week night. Plus if you make a mega batch you can give your significant other leftovers for lunch to make up for the cereal you served for dinner earlier on in the week. ha!!

Chicken Fajitas

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt
2 Tbsp canola, safflower, peanut or grapeseed oil (a high smoke point oil)
1 large onion, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
3 bell peppers of various colors, sliced into 1/4-inch strips

For the marinade

2 Tbsp lime juice
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

For assembly

8-12 flour tortillas
Your prefered toppings: shredded cheese, salsa, sliced avocado/guacamole, sour cream, thinly sliced iceberg lettuce dressed lightly with salt and cider vinegar

Process

Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, slice them in half horizontally, so that the center thickness is around 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. *Do not pound the chicken breasts, doing so will not result in the right texture/consistency for fajitas.*
Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the chicken, coating well, cover, and let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours, but remove them an hour before cooking so that they can come closer to room temperature.
Once done marinating, wipe off most of the marinade and sprinkle the chicken with salt.
Heat a large cast iron frying pan on high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add a tablespoon of canola oil to the pan. As soon as the oil begins to smoke, lay the chicken breast pieces in the pan. Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, until you have a good sear. Once seared well on one side, turn the pieces over and cook for another 2-3 minutes until well seared on the second side.
Once seared on the second side, remove to a cutting board, stack the pieces on top of each other, and cover with aluminum foil to rest for 5 minutes. If you want to test for doneness, cut into one piece with the tip of a sharp knife. It should be just done, if not, you can put it back in the hot pan for a minute or two.
While the chicken is resting, cook the onions and peppers. Add another tablespoon of oil to the very hot frying pan. As soon as the oil is hot, add the onions and peppers to the pan. Use a metal spatula to scrape up some of the browned bits from the chicken and stir to coat the onions and peppers. Spread the onions and peppers in an even layer in the pan, letting them cook undisturbed for 2 minutes so they sear with some blackening. Stir the vegetables and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
Slice the chicken against the grain into strips. Serve at once with the peppers and onions, some warm tortillas, and your preferred toppings.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

As part of my Monday Munchies series, I will feature a different eatery for a review on the first and third Monday of every month. Hope you enjoy!

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I love when I travel and I get to go to some great local places to experience some fantastic regional favorites. Just as much, I love to tell people my favorite places when they are visiting Boston or New England. But getting to discover new places always is the best. And thankfully, Price’s Dad, Tom, was so eager to show us around to his favorite places when we were visiting him in AZ for Thanksgiving. So after several hours strolling around the World Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium, we went to Monti’s La Casa Vieja in Tempe.

Monti’s La Casa Vieja has been around for over 120 years and is connected to a really pasts since it was first built in 1871. Charles Trumbull Hayden built the original adobe hacienda as a home when he settled in the area to establish a flourmill and a ferry service for crossing the Salt River. Over time that home transformed and grew into a hotel, blacksmith shop, post office, general store, and then a restaurant. After the Hayden family moved to a new home in the 1890s, they began referring to hacienda as La Casa Vieja – Spanish for “The Old House.” Originally, the community became known as Hayden’s Ferry, but in the late 1880s, the name changed to the Vale of Tempe, and few years later, the town’s name was officially changed to Tempe.

Since the 1890’s, a restaurant of some sort has been operated at La Casa Vieja as it was convenient to e to those who had traveled a great distance to use the flourmill or ferry service. It was run by the Hayden daughters until the 1930s. The details about the restaurants at La Casa Vieja are sketchy from the Great Depression through 1954 as it was run by several owners.

In 1954, La Casa Vieja was purchased by Leonard F. Monti, who had been operating a 13-stool diner in Chandler since 1946. Monti opened his new restaurant, “Monti’s La Casa Vieja”, for business in April 1956, after waiting for tenant’s lease to expire. Since then it has been run by members of the Monti family. Today, Monti’s La Casa Vieja serves approximately 500,000 customers annually.

Our server was pulling double duty be being out waiter as well as the bartender on the quiet afternoon. We didn’t get there until 3.30 from the zoo so it was during the afternoon lull so it worked out well that we got great seats by the window and fast service. The waiter was so nice and it didn’t hurt that it made a really great banana strawberry daiquiri.

It was so hard not to fill up on the bread that was brought out to us. It was similar to a focaccia bread but was less oily and was a slight bit denser. The bread was topped off with fresh rosemary and the the scent was perfuming the table as it was served warm. I could have eaten the whole basket, but thankfully I saved room for the real deal!

The reason why Tom brought us to Monti’s was for their filet mignons. He was raving about their filet lunch deal and how you get a great steak for a fantastic price. And it was not just about the price as they didn’t skimp on quality.

I had Monti’s Classic Lunch Filet for $12 which was a 5oz filet served with cheesy garlic bread, a side, and cheesy garlic toast. Price and Tom had the regular Arizona Raised 7 oz Filet Mignon for $22. Their dishes came with 2 sides, which they had a side salad and loaded baked potato. Either entrees could have been wrapped with applewood smoked bacon for an additional $2. I think that with a great cut of meat you don’t’ need to add a lot to it so I skipped the bacon.

The three of us split a side of onions and mushrooms. These went perfectly with the steak. Each bite was loaded with flavor from the juicy steak, caramelized onions, and the meaty mushrooms. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium-rare with a nice char on the outside and a tender, juicy interior.

I highly recommend going to Monti’s for their filet’s. It was a great deal and, best of all, it was a fantastic meal.

Monti’s

100 South Mill Avenue

Tempe, AZ 85281