I’ve been planning on making these bison steak fajitas in honor of Cinco De Mayo for a while now. That’s a funny thing about food blogging. You start to recognize holidays that you never paid any attention to before, strictly for the sake of the food pairings.
I almost feel obligated to create a themed post for any day that may have a particular cuisine associated with it. As if anyone would really care, or notice, if I didn’t get some green food posted by the Ides of March. Just add it to my list of paranoid delusions.
Yesterday I realized it was May 3rd. Now, I studied Latin in school but I know enough Spanish to figure out Cinco de Mayo means the 5th of May. May 5th! Major planning fail.
Or, perhaps, procrastination win?
I’m going with the latter because I managed to shop for the ingredients, grill the steaks, prepare the fajitas, and photograph everything before all the good daylight was gone. Oh, and write this post. But that happened after dark. With a margarita at my side.
I don’t eat beef (factory farming, blah blah blah) but occasionally this girl enjoys a good steak. Bison flat iron steaks are fabulous. Apparently they’re made from a really good cut with enough marbling to make them juicy and tender, but still lean and much lower in fat than beef.
These went over really well with the carnivore. In fact, I blinked, and they were gone. You should really make them tomorrow because the Mexicans defeated the French or something like that. Also, because they are delicious.
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons hot Mexican chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 - 8 ounce flat iron bison steaks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ large Vidalia onion, sliced into thin strips
- 2 bell peppers (I prefer red and orange) sliced into thin strips
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 small flour tortillas
- toppings of your choice (guacamole, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, etc)
- Mix the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Measure out ½ teaspoon of seasoning mixture and reserve that for later.
- Rub each side of the 2 steaks with the remaining seasoning mixture. Let steaks sit at least 2 hours in the fridge if you have time (you can just go ahead and cook them if, like me, you didn’t allow yourself any time at all).
- Preheat grill to high heat (approx. 500 degrees F).
- Grill bison steaks on high for about 4 minutes per side, until medium rare. Remove steaks from grill and allow to rest.
- Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat and add the peppers and onions. Season with reserved 1 teaspoon of spice mix.
- Cook until just softened, about 6-8 minutes, and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Slice the steaks very thin (about ¼ inch) against the grain.
- Warm the tortillas according to package directions.
- Divide peppers, onions, and steak evenly amongst the tortillas.
- Serve with your desired toppings.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Mmm. These look so great. I never see bison being sold in regular stores. Impressive that you were able to shop, cook, blog all before the end of day in spite of margarita!!
Beautiful photos too!
It’s still May, so it’s really OK that it’s not the 5th. I cannot keep up with all the food related holidays to save my life…
Thank you, Melissa. They do sell bison at my local Wegmans but I order from a free-range farm that I really like: http://www.gunpowderbison.com/
totally making these tonight….but with beef, I love beef! its the new chicken.
Yay! Um, try not to wait ’til the last possible minute to make them and end up eating dinner at 8pm like I so often do.
Yummy! Hope you’re ready to do some guest bartendering tomorrow night!
Betty, I’m never ready for anything. I just do it!
Looks amazing!!
RavieNomNoms recently posted..Breakfast Quinoa with Fruit
I have been looking forward to these ever since you mentioned them! They look absolutely amazing.
ok, the grill is fired up. I am drinking the fabulous margarita made with Espolon gold and kosher salt. The peppers and onions are sufficiently grilled and even threw on some yellow rice and black beans for good measure. Now as soon as our little baby girls get home from the coffee shop (when did THAT happen?) we will commence with Quatro de Mayo! OLE!!!
You rock! I don’t know when THAT happened but it’s happening over here, too. It could be either one of two coffee shops depending on which town they are in! Also, I love that you said “ole”. I was going to include that at the end of my post but I wasn’t sure if it was Mexican or Spanish
Your post totally cracked me up and I loved the photo, so bright and colorful. By the way, I do have the same tendencies as you described so I’m glad to see that you’ve labeled yours. Maybe it will help me come to terms with my “issues”
CJ at Food Stories recently posted..Social Media - Resistance is Futile
Thanks, CJ. I really wish you worked for Foodgawker
TastefullyJulie recently posted..Flat Iron Bison Steak Fajitas
You are such a cutey! I have a margarita at my side too! Why? Oh, um, because… ahem, well… OK I just like margaritas and I can’t find a better reason.
And I don’t follow the food holidays, but only because every day is a food holiday to me. wa wa wa…
kale recently posted..“it’s different.”
Great idea, using bison. I’d love to give it a try but we don’t get many of those over here in the UK. I’m doing fajitas tonight too, but using some leftover grilled chicken. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Ruby recently posted..A Walk in the West End
I always get myself into such a state of panic about foodie holidays also…it’s insane. And usually I end up not making it in time anyway! These fajitas look delicious! Definitely glad that you got them on the table in time!
Joanne recently posted..Recipe: Rhubarb Streusel Tart
I just realized I got my dates wrong! You were totally on time!!
melissa@the hungry artist recently posted..Monthly Lego Build and Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Secret Ingredient
You called it Bison! We may have just become best friends. It’s honestly one of my favourite meats, but is SO underappreciated. The pictures look amazing! And if they taste as good as they look (especially the guacamole), mine would disappear as well!
Jeff recently posted..Stuck At Work Saturday
Thanks Jeff. You’re in luck, the guacamole recipe is coming on Monday! I know. I have a tendency to do things backwards
I’m definitely a last-minute chef, too, and dinner at eight is not remarkable around here at all. In fact the grill is being fired up as we speak (roasted corn for another recipe, grilled asparagus). As you can guess from the lack of meat on the grill, we’re vegetarian except for the occasional salmon, and I’m glad you care about factory farming and don’t eat beef. Bison raised on good farmland in Maryland, like what you are buying, probably has a lot of the same environmental impact problems as beef, but at least it’s likely healthier for you. (I know you are quasi-vegetarian but need to feed a carnivore!)
Mary@FitandFed recently posted..Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Chickpeas, Pepitas, Edamame, and Quinoa
It is funny what we start thinking about after becoming food bloggers. I’m Mexican and that holiday isn’t one we pay that much attention too, lol. Your Bison fajitas look spectacular. I’ve never tried Bison but you’ve got my mouth watering.
Nancy/SpicieFoodie recently posted..Hubby’s Grilled Bratwurst and Sauerkraut Sandwich Recipe
And we make dinner at 10am for the sake of good lighting. Lol!