Jason Murphy is a local fitness enthusiast who has spent the last five years learning to take the classic favorite meals of his youth and remake them into healthy dishes. He enjoys sharing with others how food can be both fuel for fitness and fun to eat. See the list of his columns/recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.
Who doesn’t love Mexican food? I’m aware there are a few sad, lost souls out there that turn their noses up at avocados and guacamole, mainly due to color or texture. That’s the food equivalent of turning down a winning lottery ticket, both in taste and nutrition, but hey, more for the sane among us, right? I’m also aware some of you out there carry the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, and to all of you suffering with that horrible affliction, I am truly, truly sorry. A nationwide 5K fundraising campaign to fight that horrible condition is long overdue. Of course, you can always leave the avocados and cilantro out of the following recipes, but if you have been avoiding those ingredients because you decided as a child they were gross, or the color was weird, I implore you to try again. You might just surprise yourself.
My problem was always the reverse. I loved these foods too much. Any time at a Mexican restaurant, I would eat several bowls of chips with guac and cheese dip, stuffing myself before the main course arrived. Never one to let that stop me, I’d then power through a giant skillet of fajitas wrapped up in high carb flour tortillas, and feel miserable the rest of the night. Fajitas are still my main go-to order when I have to eat out now, sans tortillas. Even with that being about the only healthy choice at a Mexican joint, it’s still coming to you loaded with incredibly high amounts of sodium, inflammatory canola or vegetable oil, and questionable meats. You also have to have a battle of willpower to not eat all the fried corn chips with salsa at the table, which most people are not equipped to handle. When I have to go out, I bring my own healthy chips with me and only have one portion. I know, it’s extreme, but a lifestyle is a lifestyle, and for me, it was all in or nothing. Before/after pics tell the story better than anything. The difference between the chip-destroying take out Mexican food version of my past and my current have chips will travel self is self-evident:
So on to making your own homemade fajitas, guacamole, and pico de gallo. For the vegetables, anytime I’m dealing with soft skin veggies, I try to buy organic whenever I can. On the meats, local farm raised chicken breast are always much better than the major industrial poultry suppliers with their giant mutant chicken breasts laced with the striated white lines of fat from atrophied muscles. If you use steak, grass-fed is much preferred, and if shrimp is your protein of choice, here I have to insist only to buy wild caught USA sourced seafood. Most of the seafood in standard grocery stores is farm raised from southeast Asia, so read the labels very carefully here. If it doesn’t specify wild caught and product of USA, put the bag down and just walk away. The great thing about making food at home is you get to decide exactly how healthy you want to make it, and you are worth the better ingredients. One more thing on the guacamole… I try to be humble about everything in life, but here I make an exception. My guac kung-fu is righteous and once you have it, all others will only be varying degrees of disappointment. It’s a blessing and a curse, but one worth the trouble. Enjoy.
Guacamole:
- 5 avocados
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- Bunch chopped Cilantro
- Juice of ½ a lime
- 1 ½ tbsp Cumin
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and use a potato masher to mix into a rough texture, leaving some chunks of avocado. Taste and adjust to liking for salt and spice.
Pico de gallo:
- 5 – 6 roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped
- 1 fine diced red onion
- Bunch chopped Cilantro
- 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
- Juice of ½ lime
- 1 tsp sea salt
Combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed. If you don’t like heat, seed and remove the white pith from the jalapenos and just use the fruit. If you like it full octane, just chop the peppers and throw them in. Serve on the side with the guacamole.
Chicken Fajitas:
- 4 chicken breasts, pounded flat
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Fajita veggies:
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 package mushrooms, chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ tsp cumin and chili powder
- Juice of ½ a lime
- 4 ounce grass fed cheddar cheese, shredded
For the chicken, combine spices into a rub and coat pounded chicken breasts. Grill 8 – 10 minutes per side on an electric grill, or roast on a cast iron grill in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. Chicken is done when it hits 170 degrees internally. Rest on a plate loosely covered with foil while the veggies are cooking.
For the veggies, heat a cast iron skillet to 300 degrees with a hit of avocado oil spray, then combine all the ingredients. Cook and stir until just tender.
Once chicken has rested for 5 – 10 minutes, slice and combine with the veggies, sprinkle with cheese and heat until melted.
To save carbs, I forgo the tortillas and serve with plain 2% greek yogurt and the guac/pico. If you must have tortillas, Crepini makes a really good egg thin wrap, but they are hard to find. There are plenty of so-called healthy tortillas, but read the ingredients, avoid the ones with words you can’t pronounce, and only buy ones that use olive oil. Xtreme Wellness is a good brand that most stores here have in stock. For chips, about the only brand I’ve found that is healthy and fits my lifestyle is Beanitos brand black bean chips. They used to be in stores, but lately Amazon is the only place I can find them.
The same spices can be used on flat iron steaks to make fajitas. Hit the steaks with the 48 blade tenderizer from my earlier article on reverse sear steaks, coat them with the rub, cover and let them come to room temp for about 30 minutes. Sear in a 500 degree cast iron skillet for about 4 minutes per side for medium rare, adding a minute for medium. Rest for 5 minutes, slice thin against the grain, and enjoy.
I hope this inspires you to make Mexican inspired foods a staple in your healthy lifestyle, and make your house smell fantastic in the process. Happy eating.
See the list of the Shirtless Chef columns/recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.