It's been a lovely week of catching up, laughing and reminiscing. My childhood bezzie - my cousin and her husband and boy came to stay for a few days and last night was our farewell dinner before they went back home to Finland.

I decided to go for a Mexican theme. I wanted for us to have a happy time. I wanted my cousin's boy also to have something to eat that he would fancy, so I thought Caramba! what would be better than fajitas and the works!

For filling I had two choises: A ground beef and beans mix that had a lot of taste but not too much spice. And chicken and vegetables with lime as the other choice.

I made warm nachos with mild salsa, cheddar and jalopenos and had my trusted bottle of Tabasco at hand to add more heat to my portion.


And all was served with the usual side stuff:

Grated cheddar
Quacamole
Salsa
Sour Cream
Salad
Jalapenos
Warm tortillas

We all had a fantastic night rolling our own fajitas and most of the bowls and a couple of wine bottles were empty by the end of the evening!

Coriander lime chicken and vegetables (serves 4)

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/3 cup olive oil and more for frying
1/2 cup fresh coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 -1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or less if you want it mild)
Juice of 1-2 limes
salt and pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow or green bell pepper
1 small yellow onion
1/2-1 chilli pepper or dried chilli flakes (to taste)

Cut the chicken into strips, place in a non-reactive bowl, add chopped fresh coriander, olive oil, juice of 2 limes, ground cumin, chilli, salt and pepper. Marinade for a few hours.

Cut peppers into strips and thinly slice the onion. Heat oil in a griddle pan, fry chicken until it starts to get some colour, add onion and pepper and cook  until vegetables and chicken are done. Check the taste and add lime and seasoning if necessary. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Ground beef and bean chilli (serves 4)

Oil
400 g of ground beef
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 - 1 chilli pepper (to taste)
400g can chopped tomato
(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups low-salt chicken or beef stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and  pepper
400g can of black beans or kidney beans or mixed beans

Chop the onion and mince the garlic and deseeded chilli pepper. Heat the oil in a casserole dish or deep pan. Add the onion and fry on medium heat for a few minutes, add the garlic and chilli pepper and fry another minute, add the ground beef, cumin and coriander; cook breaking up the meat until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, stock and herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer covered stirring from time to time for half an hour. Stir in the rinsed beans and  simmer for another 15 minutes. Check seasoning.