I love grilling recipes and am always looking for new ways to grill a meal. These Skirt Steak Fajitas are super easy and delicious! The steak is rubbed with a spice mixture which I then let marinate for a few hours before grilling it. Set out your favorite fajita makings (salsa, guacamole, etc.) and you’ve got a great dinner!

Skirt Steak Fajitas
-recipe from Williams-Sonoma.com
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma On the Grill, by Willie Cooper (Oxmoor House, 2009).

Skirt steak is the best choice for quick marinating and grilling. It is well marbled, which makes it very flavorful, and slightly stringy, which makes it chewy—so be sure to slice it across the grain.

Serves 8.

1/4 cup olive oil 
1 small yellow onion, minced 
2 garlic cloves, minced 
3 Tbs. red wine vinegar  
1 tsp. chili powder 
1 tsp. ground cumin 
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper 
2 skirt steaks, about 4 lb. total, trimmed 
Salt, to taste 
8 large flour tortillas 
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro  
2 cups guacamole
1 head lettuce, shredded  
1 cup fresh salsa  
1 cup pico de gallo salsa  
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese  
1/2 cup crema or sour cream  

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, onion, garlic, vinegar, chili powder, cumin and pepper.

Cut each steak crosswise into 3 or 4 pieces. There will be thicker pieces and thinner end pieces. Place the meat in a disposable aluminum roasting pan and generously season with salt. Pour the marinade over the meat and turn to coat well. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, dip the steaks in the marinade just before grilling.

Prepare a hot fire in a grill. Brush and oil the grill grate.

Remove the steaks from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels; discard the marinade. Grill the skirt steaks directly over high heat, turning once, 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare, or until done to your liking. Meanwhile, wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and place them on the side of the grill to warm.

Transfer the steak to a carving board, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice the steaks across the grain into strips, toss with any accumulated juices from the carving board and mound onto a platter. Garnish with the cilantro and serve immediately with the tortillas, guacamole, lettuce, fresh salsa, pico de gallo, cheese and crema in separate dishes alongside.

Tags: Beef, grilling, guacamole, Mexican, pico de gallo, skirt steak fajitas, tacos

This recipe for pollo guisado is super easy and very tasty. The spicy, shredded chicken is a great filling for both tacos and enchiladas. Yum!

Because good tomatoes aren’t in season yet, I used 6 whole canned tomatoes which equaled the same amount of 3 medium fresh tomatoes. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of chipotle in adobo sauce. This is the sauce that the chipotle peppers are packed in. Instead of scooping out the sauce, I used one whole chipotle pepper and pureed that with the tomatoes. The mixture was pretty spicy but still good. For a milder sauce, use less chipotle pepper or just use the adobo sauce like the recipe says. This recipe could easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd. Enjoy!

Pollo Guisado
-recipe from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Cookbook by Guy Fieri
(adapted recipe from Maria’s Taco Xpress in Austin, TX)

The pollo guisado chicken is a little bit sweet, spicy, tender. It’s crazy good. Makes 4-6 servings.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup canned chipotle en adobo sauce
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
Serving suggestions: crisp taco shells, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Put the chicken in a saucepan with salted water to just cover. Bring to a simmer and cook until just cooked through, about 25 minutes. Let cool; shred the chicken.

Put the tomatoes, chipotle sauce, cumin, garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon pepper, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup water in a blender. Puree until smooth.

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion, and cook until the onion is golden, about 7 minutes. Add the chipotle mixture and bring to a simmer. Then add the chicken and simmer until the sauce thickens and the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pollo guisado in crisp taco shells with lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

Tags: Chicken, chipotle en adobo sauce, enchiladas, pollo guisado, shredded chicken, tacos

These tacos are quick, super easy, healthy and very tasty! The recipe calls for Tabasco Chipotle sauce (not to be confused with regular Tabasco sauce). Tabasco Chipotle sauce can be found next to regular Tabasco sauce (and other hot sauces) in the grocery store. Regular Tabasco sauce would probably be much too spicy and vinegary for this recipe. Cholula Chipotle hot sauce can also be used if you can’t find the Tabasco Chipotle sauce.   

Turkey Tacos
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Round out these quick tacos with your favorite toppings—try grated sharp Cheddar, sliced avocado, and finely diced sweet or red onion. Serves four.

2 Tbs. Tabasco chipotle pepper sauce
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 to 1-1/4 lb. ground turkey (not ground turkey breast)
Kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
12 taco-size (6-inch) flour tortillas, heated

In a small dish, whisk the chipotle Tabasco, tomato paste, and 2 Tbs. water. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring very frequently, until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the turkey and sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Cook, using a wooden spoon to break the meat into small pieces, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste mixture and let cook until the liquid is almost absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.

Off the heat, stir in the cilantro and season to taste with more salt if needed. Serve folded in the tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

Tags: Mexican, Quick Cooking, tacos, turkey

This recipe rocks! The whole meal can even be cooked on the grill (meaning no kitchen mess…always a bonus). The tacos call for skirt steak which is a long, thin cut of beef. Flank steak or rib-eyes would work great, too, if you can’t find the skirt steak (you will need to alter the cooking time if you use a thicker cut). The skirt steak I bought was folded in half for packaging. After unfolding the meat, I cut the skirt steak into shorter pieces for grilling (adjusting the cooking time for smaller pieces of meat). After cooking, I let the steak rest then I sliced it thinly against the grain (the meat will be very chewy if you slice it with the grain). You can substitute corn tortillas for the flour tortillas if you prefer.

Although the steak tacos were good, the Grilled Tomato Salsa is the real star of this recipe. The salsa was quite spicy so I recommend using 1 serrano or substituting a jalapeno chile which has less heat (you can always add more chile if you want it hotter). The recipe calls for sautéing the chiles with the onions and garlic. However, I decided to grill everything (chiles, onions, garlic) on my gas grill since I was already using the grill for the tomatoes and steak. Grilling all the veggies worked great and I didn’t have a pan to wash afterward. I left the tomatoes and chiles whole but I cut the onion into big slices. For the garlic, I removed several cloves from a whole head, leaving at least six cloves intact to the root and rubbed the whole thing with oil. I then rubbed all the other veggies with oil and then I put everything on the grill at high heat. The garlic took the longest to cook so next time I’d start it first. I removed the veggies when they had softened and had a nice char.  Once the veggies were cool enough to handle, I removed the skin from each clove of garlic and cut the stem ends off the chiles and tomatoes. I then put all the veggies into the food processor to blend. Remember to use less chile to start with if you want a milder salsa. As a final touch, I added 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke to add just a hint of smokiness to the salsa. Olé!

Skirt Steak Tacos with Grilled Tomato Salsa
- Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay – foodnetwork.com

Makes 4 servings

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 head romaine lettuce, thinly shredded
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, halved and diced
Grilled Tomato Salsa, recipe follows
8 ounces sour cream

Directions:
Heat grill to high.

Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and on the top rack of the grill while the steak is grilling.

Heat grill pan over high heat. Brush steak with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill on one side until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook to medium-rare doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Fill each tortilla with some lettuce, 3 to 4 pieces of meat, onion, grilled tomato salsa, sour cream, and avocado.

Grilled Tomato Salsa:
2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for brushing tomatoes
2 serrano chiles
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
6 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Heat grill to high.

Heat oil in a small saute pan and saute the chiles, onion, and garlic until soft.

Brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides until slightly charred and soft.

Transfer tomatoes and serrano mixture to a food processor; add the lime juice and salt and pepper and process until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse a few times (there should be flecks of cilantro in the salsa.) Transfer to a bowl.

Tags: Beef, grilled tomato salsa, Grilling/BBQ, Mexican, Quick Cooking, skirt steak, tacos