Naked Chicken Fajitas Bowl With Yoghurt-Avocado Sauce

 On my last trip to Sydney, I stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant called the Mad Mex located opposite of Mercure Hotel at Haymarket, Sydney. This time I’ve made it a point to venture out of my comfort zone of Sydney restaurants (okay I caved in a little and went to Mamak for the n^th time ha!). Plus I’m craving for some cooking inspirations and dining out turned out to be a great help!

I ordered a Naked Burrito which basically was a burrito in a bowl with rice, salad, salsa, cheese, guacamole, grilled steak minus the wrap.  No muggy weather could stop me at the time as I well and truly enjoyed every spoonful of it.

Needless to say, I brought back my naked burrito experience in Mad Mex and recreated in my own way in the Mad Emily’s Kitchen. (Okay that’s pretty lame… :S)

When it comes to homemade Mexican food, I personally prefer the Old El Paso Fajitas spice mix than the burrito one. I love the smokiness of the fajitas spices and seriously, it smells amazing even if it is only cooked over a gas stove rather than barbequing. So without doubt, I’m recreating the naked bowl experience in fajitas style.  PS: I’m not paid to say all these nice things about Old El Paso Fajitas Spice Mix.

Naked Chicken Fajitas Bowl with Yoghurt-Avocado Sauce

What you’ll need to feed 2 people:-

• 1 brown onion, peeled & sliced
• 1 red bell pepper (capsicum), deseeded & sliced into strips
• 2 tbsps cooking oil
• 20g (0.7 ounce) Fajitas Spice Mix (I used Old El Paso brand)
•  300g (11 ounces) pre-sliced chicken breasts strips
• 2 bowls of cooked rice (I cooked my rice mixed with red quinoa in a rice cooker)
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced (you can also use lettuce)

Note – the spice mix I used contained salt so I didn’t add salt to the chicken. Remember to add salt if your spice mix is salt-free.

Yoghurt-Avocado Sauce

• 4 tbsps Greek Yoghurt
• 1 small avocado
• 1 small clove of garlic, peeled and rough chopped into smaller pieces
• 1 pinch of salt
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• Water (about 2 – 3 tbsps)
• Freshly grinded black pepper
• Chilli flakes to taste *optional*

Other: A small food processor. 

Method:-

Cook rice with your preferred method (I often use a rice cooker). While the rice is cooking, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, add 2 tbsps cooking oil and spice mix and stir to combine. Then mix the spice mixture with the chicken strips until every piece is well coated. Set aside for them to marinate. Slice an onion and a capsicum. Set aside.

To prepare the sauce: add all the sauce ingredients (except for salt and pepper) in a small processor and process until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Add more water if you preferred a more diluted consistency. Add salt to taste and black pepper. Sprinkle some chilli flakes if you like. Set aside in the fridge while you prepare the chicken fajitas.

Preheat a pan/wok until fairly hot. Arrange the chicken on the pan and cook on high heat until the chicken are golden brown (the spice coating appears to be caramelised a little). Turn the chicken on the other side and let them cooked until the other side is just cooked through. Then add the onion and capsicum and saute on high heat until the onion is slightly translucent and the latter is slightly soften.

To serve: In a medium sized bowl, add rice and topped with chicken fajitas and slices of cucumber. Finish off with a drizzle of the avocado-yoghurt sauce and a small wedge of lime.

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