Never thought that this summer lovin’ gal would be saying this but “Jeez, it’s hot"!!! Here in the Northeast, we’ve been having ourselves a bit of a heat wave with 90+ temps and 100% humidity and all anyone wants to do is curl up in front of TV in an air conditioned room and blob. But of course, we still have to eat. Enter these light, summery and most importantly, easy Weeknight Veggie Fajitas. They’re so simple to whip up that they’ll leave you with plenty of time to binge watch your favorite summer series—that’s a thing, right? And while we’re talking TV, what are you watching? We just caught the first episode of Patrick Melrose and while Benedict Cumberbatch is a genius actor and I’m a huge fan, the show is just a little too down and graphically druggie for me. If you’ve got any suggestions, I’d love to hear ‘em!

But back to these truly yummy fajitas. I love them for so many reasons! Other than chopping up veggies and sautéing them (and feel free to totally change up the different kinds of veggies here), there’s not much else to do. Plus, if you have the foresight to chop those veggies ahead of time and store them in the fridge, then you can pull off this whole meal in less than 20 minutes!

There’s also a super simple black bean mixture that goes along with this which totally makes the case for keeping a couple of cans of beans in your pantry! It's barely a recipe and so-o-o delicious! Cross your fingers that there'll be leftovers!

But the biggest reason of course, is how they taste! The veggies get wonderfully caramelized and charred and go perfectly with a warm slightly charred tortilla and a lightly spiced black beans. Top them with a little shredded cheese and maybe some salsa and sour cream, pour a glass of something cool and frosty and grab that remote, 'cause summer is flying by and we've got a lot of TV to catch up on!!

Weeknight Veggie Fajitas

Makes 4-5 servings

Prep Time:  Under 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Fajitas

• 2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 2 large zucchini or the equivalent, halved lengthwise and cut into not-too-thin half moons
• 3 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off or 1 generous cup frozen corn
• 12-15 small corn or flour tortillas
• Shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese for topping, salsa, gucamole, hot sauce, sour cream, or anything else you can dream up to top these off with  

For the black beans

• Two 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup water
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• A large pinch of kosher salt
• 1 bay leaf

The Recipe

1.   Heat a large cast iron pan (or any large deep skillet you have) over medium heat and add the oil, peppers, onion and ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté for about 5 minutes, tossing the veggies every so often. Lower the heat if they are cooking too quickly. 

2.  While the veggies are cooking, pour the beans, water, garlic, salt and bay leaf into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until heated through, stirring every now and then. 

3.  Now add the zucchini and corn into the veggie mixture, along with the remaining salt and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until veggies are tender and starting to sort of char.  

4.  Warm the tortillas in the microwave or let them char for a minute or so over an open gas flame, turning with tongs (this is my favorite way). Transfer the veggie mixture and bean mixture to separate bowls (throw out the bay leaf from the beans) and let people assemble their own tortillas, leaving them as is or topping with cheese, guacamole, salsa etc.  

5.  You can save even more time by prepping the veggies ahead and storing them in airtight containers in the fridge so that all you have to do is cook them come dinner time.   

Enjoy!

Note:   Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Kitchen by Melissa Coleman. I tinkered a lot with this—I think you should just look at this as a general guide and feel free to sub in or out any veggies you like or have in hand.