Yesterday, we had a party for my daughter's 5th birthday. After her
friends went home, the family stayed for dinner. It's always hard to
cook for that group...father-in-law is pretty picky, sister-in-law won't
eat anything with onions or celery...all of the kids are a little picky
in various ways, but they're usually so excited to see their cousins
that they don't eat much of anything.

So we decided to make fajitas, which is a real break from the typical
meat-and-potatoes meals my husband's family usually favors. I rubbed a
flank steak with the following rub, which is based on the Grilled Flank
Steak Rubbed with Latin Spices recipe from The [Old] Best Recipe:

2 T. each ground cumin and chili powder
1 T each ground coriander and kosher salt (or 1.5T table salt)
2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 ground dried chipotle (the book uses hot red pepper flakes)

I had another flank steak, which I marinaded in olive oil, lime juice,
garlic, and a little bit of the rub, with some extra S&P.

And we had some chicken breast -- some left plain for the kids, others
rubbed with a paprika-based rub that we normally use for ribs (can't
find the recipe, but it's surprisingly good in chicken fajitas -- yeah,
yeah, I know...authentically speaking, there's no such thing as chicken
fajitas).

We grilled the flank steaks outdoors, and the chicken, red onion, and
green and red peppers inside. In addition to the tortillas, salsa, sour
cream, and cheese for the fajitas, I made some bean dip (pinto beans,
salsa, green onion, Mexican oregano, ground chipotle, garlic powder) and
a corn-and-tomato salad with cilantro-lime dressing (based on a recipe
from Bon Appetit, with adjustments noted).

Everything tasted great -- the spice-rubbed steak made wonderful
fajitas. Very flavorful, and as I predicted, my spice-shy in-laws
really liked it. The marinaded steak wasn't as flavorful, but will make
great leftovers -- since it doesn't already have an assertive flavor, I
can use it in a number of ways (made husband a steak sandwich on a
crusty roll w/ Beaver horseradish sauce to take for lunch today --
though IMO, that would be great w/ the spices, too).

Dessert was brought by my mother-in-law: blueberry pie (too early --
the berries were not very good, though she makes wonderful crust) and
cheesecake (addictingly yummy!).

Beer, iced tea and soda accompanied all, but we forgot to get stuff for
margaritas (oh well, next time!).

And here's the recipe for the salad -- try it this summer.



Corn and Tomato Salad

10 ears fresh corn, husked (eh, I used frozen white corn, thawed)
2 pounds plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used cut up grape
tomatoes)
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (used lime juice)

If using fresh corn, boil it and scrape it from the cob. Mix everything
together, add S&P to taste. Even with frozen corn and grape tomatoes,
this salad is really nice...but it's eye-rolling good in season.