A Spicy Bite of Cajun

Last night, as suppertime approached, I began to haul out ingredients for the meal and started noticing how fresh and yummy everything looked---bright red pepper, creamy half & half, crunchy green onions. So, I thought I'd take a picture and share a recipe. Isn't that the nicest thing about blogging? You take the things that can be such a daily, mind-numbing drudgery (like cooking dinner every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, year after year---help, I'm getting a panic attack!!) and suddenly by putting all the ingredients together and snapping a quick picture, cooking dinner becomes quite enticing . . . exotic even!!





This is a Southern Living Magazine recipe that I've tweaked a little for us.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

12 oz. uncooked linguine (I used spaghetti)

2 lb. chicken breast, cut in strips

1 tbsp. Cajun seasoning, (ATTENTION: I use HALF

of this amount, and it is plenty!)

1 1/4 tsp. salt, divided

1/4 cup butter

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 small green bell pepper, thingly sliced

1 8oz. pkg. fresh mushrooms (sadly, except for me, this

household does not appreciate this succulent ingredient, so I've

never tasted the dish with this addition!)

2 green onions (white and lt. green parts only), sliced

1 1/2 cups half and half

1/4 tsp. lemon pepper

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Sprinkle chicken evenly with Cajun seasoning and 1 tsp. salt. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute' 5-6 minutes or until done. Remove chicken.

3. Add bell peppers, mushrooms (::sniff::), and green onions to skillet, and saute' 9-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and liquid evaporates.

4. Return chicken to skillet; stir in half-and-half, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat 3-4 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Add pasta; toss to coat.

And voila', there's dinner. It got a thumbs up from the Man of the House, was eaten up by the Kiddos (several found creative ways to hide the peppers out of sight), and even the dog didn't turn his nose up at the scrap tossed his way. A successul meal if I do say so myself!