Not Your Average Jerk

A few months back, I attempted a jerk chicken recipe.  It turned out mildly disastrous.  I marinated the chicken in a very aromatic jerk spice blend for 24 hours...probably about 23 hours too long.  The chicken turned out so over-seasoned that I was breathing the spicy fire of jerk for days.

In an attempt to rectify my jerk experiment and actually do justice to this delicious Caribbean inspired spice blend, I decided to revisit jerk.  This time, no marinating.

I love Mexican food, and I especially love fajitas.  We have a fajita night at my place almost once a week and I usually come up with some variation of a Mexican fajita. This time, I decided to make jerk chicken fajitas. I really like Caribbean food and I really like fajitas, so why not combine the two???

Thankfully they turned out much better than my last attempt at a jerk chicken dish, which is why I am happy to share this recipe.

You can buy a jerk spice blend at any grocery store, but I prefer to make my own.  The ones you find in the store usually contain sugar and are very high in sodium.  You can make this blend by combining the below spices. You can store the mixture in an old school film container (pre digital camera era), or small Tupperware.

Jerk Seasoning Blend:

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs onion powder
• 2 tsp ground thyme
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp garlic power
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Jerk Chicken Fajitas: 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground chicken (you can use turkey)
• 2 tbs of Jerk Seasoning Blend (half for the chicken and half for the veggies)
• 1 Roma tomato chopped
• 2 bell peppers (I used green and red) cut into strips
• sliced mushrooms
• 1 yellow onion
• the juice of one lime
• fresh pineapple
• tortilla shells (I like to buy whole wheat or flax shells- they usually have more fibre than the traditional corn shells)

Directions:
Saute veggies until they start to soften.  Add half of the Jerk Seasoning Blend.  Once the veggies are almost done, squeeze half of the lime juice into the pan and saute for a minute longer. add pineapple pieces and set aside.  Meanwhile, in a separate pan saute the chicken until it starts to brown.  Add the other half of the Jerk Seasoning Blend and the chopped tomato and continue to cook until chicken is done (juices will run clear), then add the other half of the lime juice.  Place some of each mixture on a tortilla and top with shredded lettuce or whatever fresh veggies you like (If you want to cut the heat a bit, you can top with a dollop of low-fat sour cream). Fold and enjoy!