With the rush of the holiday season behind us, you’d think life would slow down and give us a bit of a break, but the demands of work, family, and living a healthy life never let up. After spending eight hours at the office and an hour in the gym, the last thing you want to do when you come home is spend another hour in the kitchen cooking when you could be spending time with your family or catching up on last week’s episode of (insert popular TV show here). While we all know that ordering a pizza or picking up burgers and fries on the way home seems easier, it’s definitely not a habit you want to develop and rely on.

Cooking a healthy meal at home doesn’t have to take a lot of time or effort, and it certainly doesn’t have to result in bland food. This recipe for chicken fajitas is packed with lean protein and veggies, bursting with flavor, and only takes about 20 minutes to cook from start to finish.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

1 medium onion

1 lime

3 bell peppers, red, yellow, green or orange

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

salt to taste

Directions:

• Cut onion into slivers and slice peppers.
• In a separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, juice of ½ lime, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, pepper, cumin, and salt. Cut chicken into strips and toss with the spice mixture.
• Preheat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high. Add ½ of the chicken and cook until just done, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• Set chicken aside and add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add onions to pan and cook 2 minutes. Add in sliced peppers and cook an additional 2 minutes or just until hot. Add chicken back to pan and stir to combine.
• Squeeze additional lime over top and serve over tortillas.
  (Recipe adapted from spendwithpennies.com)

Instead of sour cream, top with plain Greek yogurt; it’s lower in calories and fat, higher in protein, and tastes identical. Add tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and cilantro to up your veggie count. For a lower-carb version, substitute Boston lettuce for tortillas.