'Mexajita' chicken with pinto beans
Would it be bad if I said this was a Sandra Lee 'semi-homemade' meal?
Mexajita chicken (yeah, I have no idea what it means, but since it's Aunt Sandy, she probably just combined 'Mexican' and 'fajita'), chicken thighs with diced tomatos, jalapenos, and mushrooms, with pinto beans, on a bed of fajita onions and peppers.
And, ummm...now that I plated it up just to take a pic, there's one less thigh in the pot, that is now in my belly.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breast, rinsed and patted dry
(alternately, I made it with 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs)
Salt and pepper
2 (16-ounce) cans pinto beans, undrained
2 (10-ounce) cans Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon low-sodium fajita seasoning
(I also added a 10 oz. package of button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered)
Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in the skillet and sear about 2 minutes per side.
Place pinto beans in the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker.
Remove chicken from skillet and place the in the slow cooker on top of the beans. Pour the tomatoes (and mushrooms) over the chicken and beans and sprinkle with fajita seasoning. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 3 to 4 hours.
I went the full 4 hours to make the thighs be fork-tender, and served it over sauteed onions and peppers:
Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 bag frozen pepper stir-fry mix, thawed, (recommended: Birds Eye)
(I used 2 fresh large red peppers, cut into chunks, and 2 medium onions, cut into eighths)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fajita seasoning
Directions
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper stir-fry mix, garlic and fajita seasoning. Saute until heated through about 3 minutes. Serve on top of chicken.