Fajita Salad

I think this would also taste great if you substituted chicken, but DH requested beef, and so I stuck with the recipe. This had an amazing flavor for only marinating 10 minutes!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c lime juice
• 4 TBS minced fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
• 1 medium green pepper, julienned***
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
• 1 medium onion, sliced and halved
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 8 cups torn mixed salad greens
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/4 c low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 c salsa (the fresh kind, not the jar type)

Directions:

1. In a large Ziploc bag, combine the lime juice, cilantro, garlic and chili powder; add beef. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 10 minutes, turning once.
2. Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, cook the peppers and onion in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove and set aside. Add beef with marinade to the skillet; cook and stir for 4-5 minutes or until meat is tender and mixture comes to a boil. Add pepper mixture; heat through.
3. Divide the salad greens and tomato among 8 bowl; top with 1 1/4 cups beef mixture, 1 TBS sour cream and 1 1/2 tsp salsa.

Serves 8

*** I cheat when it comes to bell peppers. My local market carries a bag of mixed peppers (red, yellow, orange and green) in the frozen section, already julienned. Not only is this a huge time saver for me, but it's actually cost effective. I used only half a bag of peppers for this dinner. I added it in straight from the freezer!

Grilled Pork with Avacado Salsa

WOW, was this delicious!! Usually I'm gracious, and let DH take the leftovers to work for his lunch, because being at home, I have a much wider variety to choose from - whatever is in the fridge/pantry! But this time, I claimed seconds for myself.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c chopped sweet onion (I used sweet vidalia)
• 1/2 c lime juice
• 1/4 c chopped seeded jalapeno peppers
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 4 tsp ground cumin
• boneless pork chops - enough to feed your family (6 chops is about right for this, or you will need to double the marinade)

Salsa

• 2 medium ripe avocados, peeled and chopped
• 2 plum (Roma) tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 small cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 TBS minced fresh cilantro
• 1 TBS honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 TBS jalapeno pepper jelly

Directions

1. In a small bow, combine the first five ingredients. Pour 1/2 c. marinade into a large Ziploc bag; add the pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 45 minutes to 2 hours. Reserve 1/3 cup of remaining marinade. Place the rest of the marinade in a large bowl and add the avocados, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, cilantro, honey, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the jelly and reserved marinade. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Prepare your grill. Drain and discard marinade from pork. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until juices run clear, brushing occasionally with jelly mixture. Serve with avocado salsa. Yields 6 servings.