I played around with this concept for a while. Traditional fajitas on pita? Nah. Too obvious. Fajita seasoned meat with raw traditional fajita vegetables? Closer, but still no go. I wanted something spunky and refreshing. Something that said: summer! Which meant a pita perfect for picnics, camping, lake trips and the like.

I started playing around with what I had in my fridge, and I came up with slaw. Shredded red cabbage, ribbons of spinach, fresh jalapenos, green onions, cilantro, chopped red peppers for that splash of color, and diced red onion, all dressed with a sprinkling of lime juice. Yeah! The slaw is crisp and vibrant, and coupled with the fajita seasoned meat and hearty pita bread, it filled me right up. The best part is, you can make the slaw and cook the meat beforehand, and tote it with you wherever your summer adventures take you.

Ingredients:

1 or so pounds of skinless, boneless chicken, cut into strips
*fajita seasoning (see note below)
1 package pita or flatbread

Slaw:

1 to 1 ½ cups shredded red cabbage
1 to 1 ½ cups fresh spinach, cut into ribbons
½ -1 jalapeno, diced (adjust for heat)
2 green onions, sliced
handful of cilantro, chopped
½ -1 red pepper, diced
2-3 tbsp. chopped red pepper
2 tbsp. lime juice

*A note of fajita seasoning: You can purchase the mix in a package, or, if you prefer to make your own, try this, which is what I use: Mix 1 tbsp. cornstarch, 2-3 tsp. chili powder (adjust for heat), 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. paprika (try it with smoked, if you have it), 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. onion flakes, ½ tsp. garlic, ¼ tsp. cayenne, 2 tbsp. cumin, and 1 chicken boullion cube. You may not need all of it. I used about half for this recipe, and saved the rest. Mix the desired amount in enough water to dissolve the powder. Mix into meat.

Guidelines:

Brown your meat. Once the meat is nearly cooked through, add the fajita seasoning mixed with water, and continue to cook, stirring often, until done.

For the slaw, combine all of the slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit for at least half an hour to let the flavors meld.

If using flatbread, versus stuffing a pita pocket, you may need to gently warm the bread so it doesn’t split upon folding.

After a long day of work or play, even the thought of cooking can be exhausting. Especially when you’re starving and the meal you planned on preparing takes two hours and twenty ingredients. Bleh. If you’re like me and don’t eat fast food and can’t stomach eating out more than once every two weeks, your options for a quick and easy meal are limited. If you’re further like me, and don’t eat meat more than once or twice a week, you’re limited even further. No microwave hot dogs here. Nuh uh. Not even in a pinch. This, I find, is where a hearty sandwich comes in.

This veggie Italian sandwich is perfect for a quick, delicious meal anytime, but especially after a workout or a hot day in the sun. The sea salt on the roll, combined with the tapenade, provide a nice briny tang which will quickly replenish your sodium loss. The field greens are refreshing, and the fresh mozzarella is chewy and delicate in flavor. The roasted red peppers give the sandwich a warm, hearty taste. And if you buy the tapenade and the roasted red peppers instead of making them, you’ll be eating this sandwich in no time.

Note: Tapenade is a mixture made principally with olives, garlic, and vinegar.

Ingredients:

sourdough or French bread sandwich rolls
balsamic vinegar based salad dressing
olive oil
sea salt
rosemary
fresh mozzarella
roasted red peppers
mixed baby field greens
tapenade

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the sandwich roll in half. Brush the top of the sandwich roll with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary.

Slice the fresh mozzarella and lay several slices on the bottom of the roll. Lay strips of roasted red pepper on top of the mozzarella.

Place both halves of the sandwich roll on a small cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the cheese is melted and the top of the roll is toasty.

Remove from oven. Let cool briefly. While cooling, toss the field greens with a balsamic vinegar based salad dressing. Place a handful or two of the dressed greens on top of the mozzarella and roasted red peppers. Top the greens with several spoonfuls of tapenade. Put the top on and eat up!

Sunday night my husband and I watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network channel. For this throwdown, he and his team took on two brothers from Kentucky, making Hot Browns. Being a Colorado (a half an hour from the border of New Mexico) girl, and now a Pacific Northwest transplant, Southern cooking has never entered my repertoire. You can talk to me about green chilies or berries all day long, but Hot Browns and Mint Juleps? Never heard of them. I learned, however, that a Hot Brown is an open-faced sandwich traditionally made with turkey, bacon, tomatoes and mornay sauce. It was created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

And WOW did those Hot Browns ever look tasty! My husband was drooling at the TV. It was 8:30 PM and he decided he had to have one. NOW. We don’t have any turkey, I said. No bacon, either. We have to go to the store then, he said. I was telling him how crazy he was when Ace of Cakes came on, and then I was craving cake, so I said: Fine. We’ll go get the stuff, but you have to make it, and I get cake. Five minutes later he was asleep in the living room chair. I had to settle for Frosted Mini Wheats for dessert.

The next morning I woke craving cake AND Hot Browns. Swell. So I decided to surprise my husband and make them both. I made, and ate, hot fudge chocolate cake, at two in the afternoon, and made the Hot Browns for dinner. Except I still didn’t have anything to make true Hot Browns, and they seemed a bit too rich for my style anyway, so I decided to make a skinny version with whatever I could scrounge out of the fridge and freezer. The results were mighty tasty, and I can see endless variations of this dish. So, pardon me, Kentucky, for butchering your recipe. I always cringe when people do that… but here we go… clear your dishwasher, and be ready to multi-task!