Sweet and Spicy Beef Fajitas

These fajitas didn't involve anything too innovative or crazy, just an answer to my personal question "how can I make some delicious, summer tasting fajitas with contents of my fridge?", resulting in exactly what I was craving. This is an easy-to-follow recipe that will make your taste buds sing! I chose to use a crock pot because I wasn't in a hurry to have dinner prepared by a certain time, I also felt it allowed the veggies to reach prime fajita form.

The inception of the recipe went something like this.... I wanted to use up some mango I had in my fridge, mango is tropical and when I think of beef and fruit, I feel like soy sauce should be involved. Then, I still wanted to keep it Texican so I had a tomato I added to the mix and the bell peppers and onions were a must. I didn't want to saute them, I wanted them to slowly cook and soften to perfection so crock pot it was! I prefer beef tenderloin (fillet) as my steak of choice so I thought, why not see how it fares as fajita meat? Then, I needed some heat in the flavor so I called on my handy ancho-chile powder to do the trick. Using a little garlic here, a little left over fresh lime and cilantro there, and veggie stock to help those onions and peppers reach the perfect state, this recipe was born.

Grocery List:

• 8 - 10 oz. beef tenderloin, trimmed to 1/4 inch thick strips
• 1 red, yellow AND orange bell pepper, chopped into strips
• 1/2 of a sweet onion, cut into rings
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 and 1/2 tsp. ancho-chile powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. Soy sauce
• Olive Oil
• 1 plum tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup of mango, diced
• 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced

Additional:

• Sour cream
• Tortillas
• Shredded cheese
• Avocado (I wish I had some!)

With your crock pot setting on high, add the vegetable stock, onions, bell peppers and garlic to begin slow cooking.

Take your strips of beef in a bowl and add the lime, Worcestershire, cumin and ancho-chile powder. Let marinade for about 20 minutes, while your crock pot veggies are cooking.

In a skillet, saute your tomatoes in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

As you wait, check in on your crock pot veggies and give them a stir.

Add your mango in with the tomatoes and saute together for another 3-5 minutes. If I had more mango, I would have used more, just for your reference if you want to include additional chunks!

Now, add your steak and soy sauce - keep the stove on medium heat, the steak strips will cook too fast if on high heat.

Now add the cilantro to the meat mix and stir in to combine.

Once the steak is cooked to your desired perfection, add the contents of the skillet to the crock pot with the other veggies. Let sit on low/warm heat until you are ready to serve!

To serve, take a tortilla (I prefer whole wheat), top with a dash of sour cream then lay your onion and bell peppers....

Followed by strips of tasty steak....

And finally, what's a fajita without some shredded Mexi-blend cheese?

The mango and lime juice adds a fruity compliment to the natural sweet tastes of the yellow and orange bell peppers, while the beef has just a touch of heated spice for a combined sweet and spicy beef fajita. Roll it up and indulge!