Faux-Jitas

So you love those fajitas you get at the local Mexican shop. You love how they come out of the kitchen with that wooden platter that has a nuclear hot cast iron pan on it. You can feel your mouth water as the waitress tells you to "watch it, the skillet is hot" and then she sets it down with her little oven mitt.

Well, this recipe isn't that. It's close, but it is not exactly what you get at the Mexican place. It is cheaper, probably faster, and tastes just as good. The only difference is that you don't have to have a 500 degree griddle to make these on.

Faux-Jitas aren't a poor man's fajitas, they are just a different way to go around getting a similar flavor and experience.

What You Need

1 Large yellow onion
4 or 5 Jalapeno peppers
6 Large cloves of garlic
8 Ounces of white button mushrooms
12 Ounce bag of frozen peel-n-eat shrimp (16-24 per pound)
1 Lime zested and juiced
2 Tbs. of Adobo sauce or Adobo sauce with peppers
1 Bunch of cilantro

On top of that stuff, you are going to need olive oil, cumin, white vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Alternate ingredients you may wish to include are: tomatoes (I don't use them because I hate them on fajitas), yellow squash, zucchini, or roasted corn.

Method

Take the bag of shrimp out of the freezer and thaw it out.

Core the white junk and seeds out of the jalapenos.

Cut up the onion, jalapenos and mushrooms into bite sized pieces. Go a bit larger, they will shrink down during cooking. Slice the garlic thin. Chop the cilantro and reserve.

Once the shrimp is thawed, take the tail off and cut each shrimp into 2 or 3 pieces depending on its size. Reserve these back.

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil using medium heat and then dump in the cut up vegetables. Put some salt in to help the vegetables soften. Stir them around and sweat them until the onions start to turn translucent. Add the garlic, cumin, and the adobo sauce. If you are using the adobo sauce that has the full peppers in it, chop them up fine before you put them in. Let this all meld for about five minutes.

Add the cut up shrimp. Since they have already been cooked, you are only putting them in to heat them through. Stir the whole mess to make sure everything is coated with the pan sauce that is starting to form.

Right before you pull this off the heat, add the lime zest, lime juice, and the white vinegar to bolster the acidity if you need to. Stir some more to incorporate. Once you are satisfied with the flavor, dump this into a serving bowl.

Serving

You can do the traditional thing and just serve this with taco sized soft tortillas, but this works well as a burrito stuffing or just spooned over tortilla chips.

Sides

You can do the traditional thing where they give you another plate that has beans, rice, lettuce, and gaucamole, but it is best served with some home made beans.

Home made beans

Take a can of black beans (or kidney beans) and dump them in a bowl with the included juice. Add a tablespoon of the adobo sauce, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of cumin. Stir well and then put into the microwave on high for one minute. Take them out and using a fork, stir and lightly mash the beans. Add a handful of shredded cheddar. Stir more.

Put back in the microwave and cook on high again for one minute. Take them out and do the stir/mash thing again. Do this until you have a paste that has some full beans left in it.

Serve in the burrito with the Faux-Jitas, or dump them on some chips.