Paleo Fajitas; Tex-Mex, Sans Tortillas
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave; it is merely a loose application of the word. Consider the flea! – incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage.”
If my workouts are simple, my eating is simpler yet. Not that I don’t thoroughly enjoy a more elaborate preparation, but that I just don’t usually have the time for such. Anything more complex than something like this fajita dish falls squarely into the realm of Meesus TTP and the Eclectic Kitchen. Richard, over at Free the Animal, has built quite the reputation himself within the emerging, “Paleo chef” arena. Always some great chow ideas from the man over on the left coast.
Ahhh, fajitas – one of my favorite dishes. You can take the boy of south Texas, but you can’t take the south Texas (or the love of Tex-Mex food) out of the boy. First off, we need to get our hands on the proper cut of meat, and for fajitas, that means skirt steak – anything else is an abomination of this south Texas creation. Now skirt is a fantastic tasting cut, but it can be tough as boot leather if not properly prepped before throwing it on the grill. I prefer to use an alcohol and acid dilution (tequila and orange, lemon and/or lime juice works well) for an overnight marinade. Pat the cut dry with a paper towel and dust it well with fresh cracked pepper and Fiesta brand fajita seasoning (or whatever gets your goat), then toss that bad boy onto a hot grill. If you’ve got some handy, throw some onions and peppers on the grill as well. I like to put a comal on the grill (or stove top, if you prefer) for this.
2 of a kind, on the grill
And now for the Paleo concession. Being the child of south Texas that I am, I know that there is no better delicacy on this earth than a warm, homemade flour tortilla – especially if that tortilla is wrapped around thin slices of delectable fajita meat. Sugar does nothing for me – but a good tortilla? Ahhh, now that’s another story. Paleo won out on this night, though, and so in lieu of tortillas, we used romaine lettuce for wraps. Tortillas as a splurge? Sure. But for day-to-day eats, the lettuce wraps worked just fine.
Paleo fajitas; come and get 'em -
…and the view from another angle…
Guacamole is the topping you see here; a fantastic, avocado-based dish that is chock-full of good fats. Pair with a nice red wine (Phantom, from Bogle vineyards is one of my favorites). Bon appetit, Paleo, Tex-Mex style!
In health,
Keith
Phantom’s good. Skirt steak better. I would swear that’s flank steak on the grill though. My wife prefers flanks steak, so we marinate it in red wine, soy sauce and garlic overnight. Good.
You’re right though skirt steak is much tastier. We made fajitas last week. Used the Tyler Florence recipe, which was pretty good.
Joe Matasic
November 16, 2009 at 9:17 am
My mouth is actually watering.
Just a note – a couple of years ago, Canada’s biggest supermarket chain starting carrying a strain of lettuce that was a cross between romaine & iceberg.
It was designed to be used by low-carb/Paleo advocates in lieu of bread.
They were great – same shape as romaine, but firmer & stronger – no breakage, no spillage
Unfortunately, sales were slow & the product discontinued
Doug
November 16, 2009 at 10:56 am
Savory, Keith.
The left coast wants some of that to eat!
Bogle Vineyards is not far from my house.
Ciao,
Brent
epistemocrat
November 16, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Good wine is one of my few, non-Paleo, extravagances.
theorytopractice
November 16, 2009 at 5:08 pm
It may be non-Paleo, but it certainly seems healthy in the context of Ancestral. The same with FAGE yogurt and raw dairy–they may be non-Paleo, but they certainly seem healthy and worth self-experimenting with in the context of Ancestral Fitness. Add coffee and tea to this list as well, although coffee has been with us for quite some time, dating back to our roots in Africa.
Cheers to ancestral wine, cheese, coffee, and tea bricolage!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Brent
epistemocrat
November 26, 2009 at 7:08 pm
My mouth is watering!
Justa
November 17, 2009 at 3:47 pm
They’re very easy to make!
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