Another dinner, another severe allergic reaction. Is this Martha project bad for my health? Well, it certainly seems so. You may recall that I’ve experienced two severe allergic reactions to Martha meals in the past couple of months. The first was from pan-sauteed sole, the second from fish tacos. After that, I assumed it must be fish. Apparently, that was the wrong conclusion. I made Martha’s Chicken Fajitas (Martha Stewart June Living).

Things started out innocently enough. I decided to make the whole shebang for this recipe – mojo de ajo, guacamole and pico de gallo as well as the fajitas themselves.

cooking the garlic

I started with the mojo de ajo which is basically garlic cooked in oil with lime juice and red pepper. Easy. Next the guacamole – avocado, lime juice and salt. The pico de gallo was tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro (I used dried).

Once I had all of that made, I chopped up the onion and peppers for the fajitas and cooked those, then added the chicken. It really was not a lot of

guacamole

work and this cooks up quickly.

I admit I did not heat the tortillas before serving. I served them with sour cream and cheddar cheese. They were really, really good. Better than I expected, I have to admit. The 3 additional sauces and topping really added to flavor and I really enjoyed it.

Until 3 hours later. When I turned bright

pico de gallo

red all over my body,  was burning hot, developed itchy hives, felt sick to my stomach and was dizzy. Benadryl worked its magic and I didn’t have to go to the hospital, but this reaction was even more severe than the previous two. I don’t know what to make of it, so I’ve made an appointment with an allergist.  I’ve never had anything like this happen before I began the Martha project, so it’s quite disturbing. There are some common ingredients between reaction #2 and reaction #3 – lime, garlic, cilantro and avocado, however these are all things I’ve eaten before with no problems. I guess I’ll let the allergist figure it out. Until then, I’m a little nervous about trying new Martha dishes, I must admit.

Chicken, peppers, and onions

making the fajita

rolled up and ready to eat