Confession: Last night I cheated a bit to make it even easier and quicker. (I do NOT like spending time in the kitchen when it's hot outside!) So, I stopped by my favorite authentic mexican restaurant on the way home from work (Casa de Bandini) and bought part of dinner. I got a pint each of their amazing black beans and their even more surprising arroz amarillo.
And all I did was make shrimp fajitas:
I slightly crushed 4 cloves of garlic and threw them into 1/4 cup of olive oil.
(Crushing opens the clove enough to extract flavor when heat is added.)
I set the stove to medium-low heat and let the garlic and oil 'get friendly'.
They hung out together while I prepared the shrimp, sliced up the veggies, etc.
(They hung out like this for about 10 minutes, just barely sizzling in hot oil.)
I sliced red/orange bell peppers and a red onion.
I then removed the garlic-infused oil from the pan, leaving just a tiny bit behind for the veggies.
The veggies went into the pan and sauteed until they just started to brown.
(Over medium-high heat, they hung out for about 10 minutes.)
(I tossed them several times to make sure they browned on all sides.)
Once soft enough, I removed the veggies to a bowl and set them aside.
This next part goes quickly...
The garlic-infused oil went back into the pan (without the garlic cloves).
I lightly salted the shrimp and added it the oil.
Approximately 30 seconds later, I turned the shrimp over.
I added the veggies back to the pan, waited about 30 seconds and tossed a few times before serving up.
These went perfect with corn tortillas that I warmed ever so slightly on the cast iron tortilla warmer.
Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and cotija cheese...
You WANT to make these. I promise.
Sidenote: let it be known, it is my goal this summer to figure out how to make the special arroz amarillo that Casa de Bandini rocks! I may have to go back time and again for more test tastes. Oh darn...
enjoy your time in the kitchen...
