Burritos made with chicken thighs

When I was cooking last night, I used my last onion. As I wrote onions on to my shopping list, I remembered the time last year, when my neighbor offered me an onion in a similar situation. This was just about a year ago. I still had the family, from the house next door, living with me after the Great Lisle Flood Of 2013. 

This day, I went to the grocery store, and bought a package of chicken thighs and was planning to make burritos. When I arrived home, my housemates were having a beer with my neighbor from down the street. I sat down and had a beer with them, then got up to start dinner.

As I pulled out my ingredients, I noticed I only had one onion, and I needed two. I was going to run out to buy some onions, when my neighbor said he’d go to his house and grab an onion for me. Oh good, I thought. I forgot, that my neighbor hates onions. He brought me this little onion, which was barely bigger than a pearl onion. I looked at him, and said, “Really?”

Buy now, I had already started cooking, so I had to use what I had. I took the onion and thanked my neighbor. Here’s how I put dinner together. Even with the onion deficit, it turned out good.

1 lb. chicken thighs, cut into strips

Grape seed oil

Cajun seasoning

1 tbs. dried minced onion

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. smoked paprika

3 green and 2 bell peppers

1 medium and 1 tiny onion

Adobo seasoning

Soy sauce

1 lime, cut into wedges

1/4 cup white wine

Whole wheat tortillas

Canned jalapeños

Preparation

Get a very large cast iron pan real hot. Add enough grape seed oil to coat the bottom. Add the chicken strips and stir. Sprinkle them with lots of cajun seasoning. Add the dried minced onion and the thyme, paprika and oregano. Stir and sear the chicken until it starts to brown.

Add the pepper strips and stir. Cook that, stirring frequently until the peppers start to soften. Add your paltry amount of fresh onion and stir. When the onion begins to soften, sprinkle on some adobo seasoning and a little soy sauce. Squeeze on the limes and stir in the white wine. When the liquid is sizzling, turn off the heat and serve.

Serving

Heat a large cast iron griddle, for your dinner guests to heat their tortillas. Spoon on the pepper and chicken mixture. Slice some of those canned jalapeños in half and add a few of those to your burrito. Roll it up and wolf it down with lots of beer. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat until you are ready to burst.