Spices to Sauté Vegetables or Marinate Chicken or Beef
Temperatures are heating up outside in northern Nevada and summer is in full swing! It’s time to grill folks! Keep the kitchen heat to a minimum and cook outdoors. Below is a spice blend that I use to spice up vegetables to accompany grilled chicken or beef. The first ingredient is cornstarch so it can tend to form a bit of a paste as the water is released from the vegetables. The spice blend can also be adapted and used as a marinade. Tamari sauce is used as a replacement for soy sauce to keep the marinade gluten free. Read below for ingredients and how to cook!

Fajita Spice Blend
Total volume: 3.5 Tablespoons

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed chicken bouillon cube
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Seasoned Vegetables to accompany Fajitas
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 yellow or orange pepper, sliced
½ red onion, sliced
2 Tablespoons of Fajita spice blend
1-2 teaspoons olive oil

Instructions:

1. In a skillet, sauté the peppers and onion in 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil and 2 Tablespoons of the fajita spice blend. Sauté to your desired softness/ crispiness of vegetables.
2. Or bake in a preheated oven at 475 F on the lower middle rack. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread peppers on baking sheet, drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons olive oil, sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons of Fajita spice blend. (Alternate method to coat vegetables with oil: place all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and shake to coat vegetables, then spread on the lined baking sheet)

Marinade for Fajitas
Omit the cornstarch in the spice blend recipe and double all other ingredients.
Mix 2 Tablespoons of this new spice blend with 3 Tablespoons canola oil, 1 Tablespoon tamari sauce, 1 Tablespoon lime juice. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.