Cajun chicken pasta

I wanted to find something new with chicken breasts instead of just spicing the breasts and cooking them. I was getting a little tired of that so I found a new recipe that gave a new use for the breasts. It still was spicing them but at least it wasn't eating them whole. Instead it was using them as one of a few ingredients in a dish. I got it from The Pioneer Woman website here.

Review: This is one of my new favorite meals. It's been a couple hours since I ate it and my mouth is still watering thinking about it and I want nothing more than to get myself another bowl (it's late though so I won't). I reused the spice I made with yesterday's salmon dish (Emeril's ESSENCE seasoning), so it was pretty spicy but I liked it. The flavoring from the peppers, onion and garlic really made the dish and give it the extra taste that kept it from just being a pasta and chicken meal. It's also a recipe that while I used chicken, you could use -- or include -- other meats to it as well such as sausage or pork, or include seafood such as shrimp. To make it healthier than the recipe calls for I did not include the butter. I just used olive oil. I also used 100% whole wheat spaghetti and instead of the heavy cream I used a couple tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I used a whole medium red onion, two Roma tomatoes and next time might use two green and two red peppers to help balance the amount of ingredients. I also did not use fresh parsley flakes on the top I used dried parsley flakes (mostly because I didn't want to have all that extra fresh parsley to try and find a use for later). If you aren't on a healthy diet like I am you could still use the butter and heavy cream but if you want it to be healthier leave them out. Their absence won't affect the flavor. Again though, this is now one of my favorite meals that I will be cooking again soon and because of the heat, is a good one for the winter to help warm the throat and clean out the sinuses.

Recipe:

• 3 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes
• 3 teaspoons Cajun spice mix, more to taste (if you make your own make sure you include at the very least cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic, onion powder and white pepper for the flavors)
• 1 pound of fettuccine (or whatever type of pasta you want to use)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)
• 1 whole green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 whole red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1/2 whole large red onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 whole Roma tomatoes, diced
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup heavy cream (can substitute with cornstarch)
• cayenne pepper to taste (use your cajun spice if you have extra)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• salt to taste
• chopped fresh parsley to taste (dried parsley works fine too)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain when pasta is still al dente. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun spice over chicken pieces. Toss around to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter (optional) in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add half the chicken in a single layer but do not stir. Allow chicken to brown on one side about 1 minute. Flip to the other side and cook an additional minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a clean plate then repeat with the remaining chicken (times can depend on how cooked the chicken gets and it's OK to cook all the chicken at once -- I did).

After removing the chicken, leave the pan on high heat and add the remaining olive oil and butter (butter is optional). When heated, add peppers, onions and garlic. Sprinkle on the remaining Cajun spice and add salt if needed. Cook over very high heat for 1 minute, stirring gently and trying to get the vegetables as dark/black as possible. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove all vegetables from the pan (again, cooking times vary but I just cooked everything until the vegetables were soft).

With the pan over high heat, pour in the wine and chicken broth. Cook on high for 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in the cream, stirring/whisking constantly (this is where you can substitute the cream for cornstarch to thicken the sauce). Cook sauce over medium-low heat for a few minutes until the cream starts to thicken the mixture. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper (or the cajun spice) and/or salt to taste. The sauce should be spicy.

Finally, add the chicken and vegetables to the sauce, making sure to include all the juices that have drained onto the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is bubbly and hot. Add the drained fettuccine and toss to combine. Top with chopped fresh parsley and enjoy.

Salmon with brown rice and a pineapple, mango, strawberry salsa

I haven't had salmon in a while so tonight's meal broke that streak. I found it on the Food Network site and Emeril Lagasse made it so I figured it would be good -- I was correct. The original recipe can be found here but it is definitely one I will make again and if not with the fish then with other meats.

Review: This was another healthy, tasty meal that was pretty quick and easy to make. The recipe calls for grilling the salmon but I just cooked them on the stovetop. It took a little longer cooking that way than the recipe says but I just didn't feel like turning the grill on for a couple minutes. The salmon piece also was probably a little too big because after a while I got tired of eating it, but that's a quick fix by cutting the salmon in half. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon or more of each of the spices for the seasoning but you will more than likely have enough left over for multiple uses on chicken, pork or burgers for example with those amounts. Next time I make it I will just use 1 teaspoon of each spice that way I don't have a lot leftover. It also was very spicy because of the cayenne pepper. If you don't like hot, spicy foods then you could leave the cayenne out but if you don't mind it then this is the meal for you. My nose was running after a couple bites. I should note too that I made the seasoning based on the ingredients listed but if you can find Emeril's already made seasoning that is suggested then the flavoring and heat might be a little different. As for the fruit salsa, I made something similar to this before and this was a little better. I left out the onions though because I don't really like raw onions. Next time I also might leave out the mint. It didn't taste bad, but it was slightly overpowering and so I got more of the mint taste than the pineapple, mango and strawberry taste. It also calls for dicing the fruits but I probably diced them a little too small because I couldn't really taste the difference between the three fruits. If you leave the pieces a tad bit bigger (maybe small cubes instead of small diced pieces) you could distinguish among the flavors. Still, on its own the fruit salsa would make a nice meal as well.

Recipe:

• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skin on (or however many you need/want for the number of people you are serving)
• 2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 recipe Fruit Salsa, recipe follows

Preheat a grill to medium. Brush both sides of the salmon with the olive oil. Season the salmon on both sides with the Essence, salt and pepper. Place the fish on the grill, skin side down and cook for about 3 minutes then turn the fish 45 degrees and cook an additional 3 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until cooked through to the desired degree of doneness. Remove the fish from the grill and serve with the fruit salsa spooned over the fish.

If you do it on stovetop like I did sprinkle both sides of the fish with salt, pepper and the Essence seasoning. Pour some olive oil into the pan and then cook both sides of the fish until done. Most times salmon will be finished when you can scrap the skin off the fish fairly easily but depending on how thick the fish is you might have to cook it longer than when the skin starts to flake.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast)

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. This makes about 2/3 cup so remember if you don't want a lot left over just use 1 teaspoon of each ingredient.

For the Fruit Salsa

• 3/4 cup small diced pineapple
• 3/4 cup small diced mango
• 1/2 cup small diced strawberries
• 1/4 cup small diced red onion (I left this out)
• 1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium non-reactive bowl (plastic will do), combine all of the ingredients and stir to blend. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the salsa to macerate (basically just means settle together) for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. This makes about 2 cups so you probably will have some of this leftover too.

Lemon chicken breasts, brown rice and steamed vegetables

It's been a while since I posted but that's partly because I drove across country to move for my job. Now that I'm settled in and had my first two days off from work for the week I started cooking again. Last night's meal was one I've made numerous times but tonight was a new recipe. For one reason I wanted to just try something new and for another reason, I wanted to be able to post here. The original recipe is courtesy of Ina Garten, star of "Barefoot Contessa" on The Food Network. It can be found here.

Review: Tonight's meal was simple to make. I'll admit I cheated a little more on this one and used ingredients that were already cut or packaged instead of fresh like I normally do. Still, this recipe I thought was pretty tasty and certainly tasted healthy. To help make it healthier I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The skin would have added more flavor but it's also not as healthy. Some comments on the original recipe said it was too lemony, but I agree with the majority of the comments in that it wasn't that lemony at all. Although, I also didn't use the lemon zest that the recipe calls for or cut a lemon into wedges and cook it with the chicken so that helped cut back on the lemon flavor. If anything it had more of a sweet taste to it because of the white wine. It wasn't overpowering for my liking but I could definitely taste it. Some people who commented said they didn't use the wine and it still turned out tasty so that's a possibility too. I suppose you could substitute the wine for chicken broth. I also did not use fresh thyme leaves but used dried instead. It took about 20 minutes to prep (if you use fresh ingredients for the garlic and thyme and lemons it might take longer) and 35 minutes to bake in the oven but the chicken itself stayed fairly moist. You might cook it for 25-30 minutes if you want it a little juicier but I would stick to the 30-35 minute range just to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through. As far as the steamed vegetables go I cheated and used a bag of vegetables that you just have to put in the microwave. Normally I would have tried to steam them on the stove with boiling water and a colander in the pot. I also cheated with the brown rice and instead of cooking it on stove top I bought bowls that go in the microwave and are ready in 1 minute; however, I cooked white rice on the stove top for the other people I was serving.

Recipe:

• 1/4 cup good olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons) (I left this out)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used the lemon juice in the bottle)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves (I used dry leaves)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 lemon (I didn't use)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat then add the garlic. Cook for 1 minutes but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Turn off the heat then add the white wine, lemon zest (optional), lemon juice, oregano, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish. Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce (or just place them in the pan if you use skinless breasts). Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper (I flipped the chicken breasts over in the pan so both sides get the oil, garlic, wine, lemon juice on them and I also sprinkled both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper). Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken (optional). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned (it will not really brown if you don't have the skin). If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices (I served immediately and didn't use the pan juices).