Hatch Chile Cheesy Chicken Fajitas

I've been planning on making fajitas for a while, ever since I got my new Fajita Sizzler Set which promises to make every day a Fiesta. I'm all for that. To celebrate the Hatch harvest, and to break in my Fajita Sizzler Set, I made Hatch Chile Cheesy Chicken Fajitas. Some people put cheese on fajitas; others don't, but we are a cheese-loving family, so cheesy fajitas it is.

• 1/2 (26 oz.) package frozen, pre-cooked Fajita-seasoned chicken breast strips
• 1 T. ground cumin, divided
• 1 T. fajita seasoning, divided (Yes, I know the chicken is already seasoned for fajitas, but we like lots of flavor.)
• 1 - 2 T. butter, or margarine, if you prefer
• 1 large onion, cut into slices
• 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 hot roasted Hatch chile, char removed, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped
• Squeeze or two of lime juice
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• Guacamole

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in 1/4 cup water and half the package of chicken strips (to feed four). Sprinkle with half the cumin and half the fajita seasoning. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes, until the chicken is browned and the water has evaporated. Or, get involved in the Beatles Anthology on TV like I did and ignore the chicken. It will burn nicely. You'll smell it before the smoke detector goes off. Actually, I was going for an authentic, smoky flavor. I rescued the chicken by adding a little water to the skillet, then stirring the chicken in the smoky sauce. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the butter to the hot skillet. When it sizzles, add the onion slices and both the green and red bell peppers. Sprinkle with the remaining half of the cumin and fajita seasoning. Saute until the bell peppers are limp and the onions are a nice color of brown. If they're giving you a bit of trouble and staying crunchy when they're supposed to be going soft, add a little water to the skillet, cover, and let the veggies sweat. (You're not being mean to the veggies; you're just helping them soften.) Add the garlic and saute for one minute, then stir in the chopped Hatch chile and heat through.

How good are you at multi-tasking in the kitchen... doing three things at once? While you're sauteing and maybe or maybe not sweating the onions and peppers, depending on how they behave for you, heat a separate, 10-inch skillet or comal on medium-low heat, place the tortillas, one at a time in the pan, and warm them on both sides, until they're either soft and pliable or a bit crunchy--however you like them, then place them in a tortilla warmer. Mix the Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses together in a bowl.

In between sauteing the veggies and warming tortillas, return the chicken to the veggie skillet, toss to mix and heat through. Place the chicken, onions, and bell pepper mixture on the fajita skillet for serving. Squeeze a little lime juice over everything to add some zip to your fajitas and to accent the flavor.

Put the fajita mixture into warmed tortillas, smother with cheese, and enjoy with a side of guacamole.

These were the best fajitas--ever!! Really. The Hatch chile added the perfect zing and the very-well-done chicken was brown and smoky.