Spice up student cooking

I do not think there exists a more perfect student meal than home-cooked fajitas. Fajitas are quick and easy, get-in-my-belly comfort food. I would like to think of myself as a foodie, so, thinking with said belly, I jumped at the opportunity to review the latest in DIY home dining: Discovery Foods’ ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’. However, loving food does not necessarily mean being good at making food so I was keen to see if cooking fajitas using the ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’ would be both tasty and, (a necessity with a novice like me), idiot-proof.

Discovery Foods has been around since the late 1980s and prides itself on seeking more adventurous tastes. Having moved to England to do my degree, I have to say that their drive to ‘stay curious’ is a positive and healthy attitude to food in this strange landscape of bland, repetitive student food. Come on, chips with curry sauce and the late-night kebab really should not be the student staple. Discovery Foods are keen on emphasising the sensation Mexican food can bring to life, with all those wonderful spices and beautiful colours popping out at every angle in their cuisine. James Beaton, the founder, has travelled all over the world, but was particularly taken with the Mexican way of life. I am inclined to agree that a culture that prides itself on kicking back, relaxing and having really good food is one I would definitely want to be a part of. Inspired by their vision, I set off on my own Mexican foodie adventure, with the help of two friends (I certainly couldn’t finish a meal meant for three on my own!) and copious amounts of vino.

I would not say that the Discovery Foods products offered anything revolutionary when it came to the design of their brand. Their products are usually decorated in red with clear information on the labels, which is attractive enough to anyone, however I doubt it would really stand out among the multitude of Mexican cooking kits. What is really important is on the inside, and I think students are savvy enough to focus on product rather than packaging. The box for the ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’ had a pretty easy ‘tear-here-to-open’ packaging, one that I completely ignored whilst attempting to open it from the wrong side. Oops. I do not think this at all a slight on their part, it is just that I probably belong on some kind of warped reality television show called ‘An Idiot Cooks’. The salsa and the wraps came in standard plastic packets, and the seasoning came in an easy to open paper packet with the cooking instructions on the back. Pretty much idiot-proof, even for me!

Ask anyone, I am obsessed with condiments and have a whole cupboard purely for that purpose, so I uttered a little squeak of delight when I saw how the sauces were packaged. The sauces came in squeezy bottles! I love anything in squeezy bottles because they are so easy to use. Plus I get to rediscover my inner child by writing messages with relish on my wraps. Your mother might have taught you not to play with your food, but this is definitely too much fun to resist. I wasn’t a big fan of the jar the red jalapenos came in as it was overfilled and spilled over when I opened it, but I guess you could chalk that up to my lack of grace.

I was kindly provided with the ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’, three sauces that included Garlic & Herb Soured Cream, Green Jalapeno Relish and Smooth Salsa, and a jar of Red Jalapenos. The ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’ contains three products, the fajita seasoning mix, some chunky mild salsa and 8 medium-sized tortilla wraps. I’ll get back to the ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’ later; here is a lowdown on the individual sauces.

Garlic & Herb Soured Cream

The Garlic & Herb Soured Cream was the sauce I was most excited about trying, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. It was creamy, but not too strong as can be with too much garlic. On its own I could see it as a casual dip with some tortilla chips, as it was savoury enough to be so. It was a welcome addition to the fajitas as it added a level of richness to the wraps.

Smooth Salsa

The Smooth Salsa was pretty much as expected, perhaps erring a little on the sweet side for me. I prefer my salsa chunky and fresh, so perhaps I’m being biased, but as a sauce in itself, it does well as an accompaniment to the fajitas. Together in the dish it was a perfect marriage of flavour, so perhaps that is all that matters. I describe it as ketchup with a Mexican bite.

Green Jalapeno Relish

The Green Jalapeno Relish was the most surprising of all. I can handle my spice, but the thought of jalapenos evoked burning, burning heat, and not in a good way. The description said it would be ‘medium’ spice rating, so I manned up and gave it a go. It was actually a lot milder than I thought it would be, and my favourite sauce out of the three. I would put this stuff on anything; it’s tangy and just spicy enough. I am keen on putting this on a hot dog.

Red Jalapenos

The Red Jalapenos came in a jar pickled in water, sugar and vinegar, and I was the most nervous about trying them. Again, I’m quite used to heat but I wasn’t sure whether it would be a death by chilli pepper. Surprisingly, it was definitely a medium heat and, dare I say it, mild enough for anyone’s palette. These peppers had a great sweetness to them too, but I wasn’t sure whether it was because of the sugar added. Nevertheless, they were delicious.

Putting it all together with the ‘Perfect Fajitas Kit’

The moment came to start prepping and cooking our highly anticipated Mexican meal. I limbered up in my own special way by glugging (I meant, err, daintily sipping) a glass of red wine, and began. Well, in actual fact I started by coercing my partner in crime Ashley to chop up the vegetables needed because that is my least favourite part about cooking. The ‘Perfect Fajita Kit’ instructed us to whack in two bell peppers (colour is your choice), and one onion. Of course you could deviate from this and add whatever vegetables you prefer, but for the sake of a review we stuck with the simple recipe. Once all the vegetables have been prepped, I took over and started to prepare the meat, which was chicken for this recipe. The instructions on the kit were very simple to follow with essentially three simple steps. Here is how I broke it down;

1) Coat the chicken in oil and the fajita seasoning mix. The kit gives a great tip saying you should use as much fajita seasoning as you prefer, the more seasoning you use, the spicier your fajitas will be. I used just about half of the packet for 400g of chicken and it came out beautifully. You can store the seasoning mix with a clip for another round of fajitas if you like!

2) Stir fry the meat in a very hot pan for 3 minutes or until cooked, followed by the vegetables, and cook until onions are transparent.

3) Serve immediately accompanied by the tortilla wraps and various sauces. Don’t be afraid to get messy and creative with your fajitas!

I honestly could not believe how easy it was to put it all together. Any novice student cook could prepare and cook this meal without any hassle at all. Altogether including prep time, it must have only taken about 25 minutes to prepare. This is probably ideal for a busy (and lazy) student lifestyle. Using chicken breast and lots of vegetables makes this a relatively healthier meal as well. So far so good, but how did they taste?

The verdict

We all sat down to our makeshift dining table (my friend’s bed. We’re students, the phrase ‘dining room’ isn’t really in our vocabulary) with our piping hot wok full of fajitas and our tortilla wraps. Our mouths were already watering, the smell of Mexican spices permeated the air and tantalised our taste buds from the moment the chicken hit the sizzling heat of the wok. We were more than ready. We were born ready for this Mexican extravaganza.

Boy did it not disappoint. The meat and vegetables on its own were already so tasty and wonderfully savoury, but in combination with the sauces (I piled on all three and some jalapenos), it was an explosion of flavour in my mouth. (I tried to type that with a straight face and failed. It is true though!). I found the meal really filling as well, I had two rounds of fajitas using two tortilla wraps and I felt absolutely stuffed. Frances and Ashley each had three and were fighting over who should get the last morsels. It was definitely a winning combination, and our enthusiastic chewing was only interrupted once or twice with each of us expressing our newfound and undying love for fajitas. The sweetest part? We made it all ourselves.

I would definitely buy this kit again. The only sauce I wouldn’t enthusiastically have in my food cupboard is probably the Smooth Salsa, but everything else is definitely worth having, especially the manna out of heaven that is the Green Jalapeno Relish. I want that on everything. I was sceptical of a pre-packaged Mexican kit, mostly because I personally like making things fresh and from scratch, however, I had a great meal made in minutes that was delectably spicy. As a student, you really couldn’t ask for more.