I wanted to prepare a nontraditional dinner for Easter. I made fajitas and all the fixins. I didn’t get pictures of everything but it was all delicious trust me. This is one of my favorite menus.
Here was the menu…
Seven Layer Dip
Chili con Carne
Beef & Chicken Fajitas served with fresh pico, guacamole, homemade salsa, sour cream and cheese
Refried Beans and Mexican Rice
Strawberry Shortcake
Seven Layer Dip
recipe by Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
- 1 can Refried Beans
- Tabasco Sauce, To Taste
- 1 can Diced Green Chilies
- Ground Cumin, to taste
- ¾ cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1 cup Guacamole
- ¾ cups Monterey Jack Cheese
- 1 can Black Olives
- 1 cup Pico De Gallo
Preparation Instructions
Begin by throwing the refried beans into a small pan over medium-low heat. Add several dashes of Tabasco sauce and a small can of (undrained) diced green chilies. Stir well. Next, sprinkle a little bit of ground Cumin.
Spread the beans on the bottom of a glass bowl or high-sided dish. Over this sprinkle the sharp cheddar. Next, plop your sour cream. And spread it into a single layer, being careful not to disturb the cheese underneath.
The next layer is the guacamole. Spread it over the sour cream. Follow this with a layer of Monterey Jack Cheese and a nice sprinkling of chopped black olives. Lastly, place a generous layer of Pico de Gallo. You can also, if you have the gumption for it, sprinkle some diced jalapenos over top.
Enjoy!
Chili Con Carne
recipe by Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
- 32 ounces, weight Velveeta Cheese Loaf
- 10 ounces, weight Rotel
- 1 pound Jimmy Dean Hot Breakfast Premium Pork Sausage
- 7 ounces, weight Chopped Green Chilies
- 1 whole Yellow Onion
- 1 whole Jalapeno, or more to taste
Preparation Instructions
Dice the onion. Using a nonstick sprayed skillet, cook sausage and onions until brown, stirring occasionally. Once browned, drain some of the fat from the skillet.
Cube Velveeta loaf. Add cubes to browned sausage and onion mixture. Add can of Rotel (juice and all), can of green chilies (juice and all), and stir over low heat.
Cut the top and bottom off the jalapeño, slice into matchsticks, then rotate and slice to create a fine dice. (For a spicy version, leave seeds and white membranes. For a milder option, remove them.) Add to queso and stir.
Serving tip: Use a fondue pot or crock pot to serve piping hot!
Chicken Fajitas
recipe by Paula Deen
Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Dash hot sauce
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds meat (boneless, skinless chicken breast, skirt steak or peeled and deveined shrimp)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 lime, juiced, for topping
Sour cream, for topping
Salsa, for topping
Guacamole, for topping
Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping
Directions
In a heavy duty resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper and your choice of meat. Seal and toss the bag around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator. *Cook’s Note: 15 minutes for shrimp, 20 minutes for chicken and 1 hour for skirt steak.
Preheat your cast iron servers in a preheated 400 degree F oven for at least 20 minutes, to get a good sizzle when you plate the fajitas.
Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare and about 2 minutes for shrimp. Slice the chicken and steak into strips if you are using.
In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.
Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in the oven with the servers for 15 minutes.
When you are ready to serve, remove the cast iron servers from the oven and quickly arrange the meat and peppers and onions on it. It will immediately start to sizzle from their fat and moisture. Serve sizzling immediately with the warm tortillas and other accompaniments.
Pico de Gallo & Guacamole
recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
- FOR THE PICO DE GALLO:
- 5 whole Plum (roma) Tomatoes
- ½ whole Large (or 1 Small) Onion
- 3 whole Jalapeno Peppers
- Cilantro
- Lime Juice
- Salt To Taste
- FOR THE GUACAMOLE:
- 3 whole Avacados
- Pico De Gallo
- Couple shakes of cumin
- Lime Juice
- Salt To Taste
Preparation Instructions
Pico de Gallo
Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.
Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.
Guacamole
Start with buttery-soft avocados. Halve them lengthwise and remove the pits. Next, with a spoon scrape the “meat” out onto a large plate. Next, with the bottom of a clean cup (or with a fork) mash the avocados, making sure to leave it relatively chunky. Add just a couple of shakes of salt to taste. Next, add a generous helping of Pico de Gallo. Add cumin. Fold together. Lastly squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the top. Give it one last stir.
Mexican Rice
recipe by Allrecipes
Ingredients
1 cup long grain white rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 cube chicken bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, halved
Directions
In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato.
Season with bouillon cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Pound cake
2 quarts of strawberries
3 T sugar
1 pint heavy cream
4 T powered sugar
1 t vanilla
Directions
Prepare cake and let cool to the touch.
Wash and slice the strawberries. Place strawberries in bowl. Add sugar and toss to coat. Cover and place strawberries in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Place heavy cream, powered sugar and vanilla in your mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, then mix on medium high until soft peaks form. When you remove the beater, the cream should stick to the beater. Be careful not to overmix. Place in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
To serve, place a slice of cake on a plate. Top with a large dollop of whipped cream. Add strawberries.
Enjoy!
