Rogan Josh

 

The last time I was at Penzeys Spices in Omaha, I picked up a bottle of Rogan Josh Seasoning.  If you've never been to a Penzeys Store, each spice or seasoning is displayed in a little jar.  You can remove the lid and smell each seasoning.  JP loves to do this!  Anyways, the Rogan Josh smelled soooo good.  A little spicy, a little curry-like and a little exotic.  According to Penzeys, Rogan Josh is...

• "Just a little spicy. A very popular dish from Northern India and Pakistan. This version of the red lamb stew comes from the state of Rajasthan, known for its hilly deserts and fierce, yet chivalrous warriors. Rogan Josh can be made with beef, but this blend is a great example of how a crafty seasoning can change the somewhat objectionable, "gamey" flavor of lamb into something far more delicious. Some blends are interesting-this blend is good." 

• Hand-mixed from: paprika, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Korintje cassia cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and saffron.

The jar of Rogan Josh has been sitting in my cubboard for a few months.  Jeff doesn't care for spicy food, so I've been waiting to make this dish when he wasn't at home.  Wednesday night was the perfect night to make Rogan Josh!

 

I didn't have any lamb, beef or pork on hand, but I did have chicken...I'm not sure how traditional my version of Rogan Josh is, but JP and I enjoyed it!  I served the Chicken Rogan Josh over rice and veggies with a dollap of yogurt and a sprinkling of cilantro. 

Chicken Rogan Josh adapted from Penzeys

2 chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces

1 large onion, diced

2 T. olive oil

3 T. Rogan Josh seasoning

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. plain, fat-free yogurt

1 c. water

dollap of plain, fat-free yogurt

cilantro leaves

In a dutch oven, brown the chicken in the oil.  Remove the chicken and add the onion to the hot pan.  Add the Rogan Josh seasoning and salt and stir 1 minute.  Add the cooked meat back to the pan.  Mix the water and yogurt together.  Slowly add the water/yogurt mix.  Stir well.  Cook 1-2 hours over low heat.  Severve over rice and steamed veggies with a dollap of yogurt and a sprinkling of cilantro on the top!

Enjoy~ 

Happy New Year!

Ok, Ok, I know...  it's been a LONG time since I've last blogged.  I could offer you lots of excuses, my faithful readers.  But if you're my faithful readers, you know what's been going on in my wild and crazy life.  (For those of you who aren't my faithful readers, I'll give you a recap of my wild and crazy life.  Military wife.  Mama.  Full time grad student.  'Nuff said.)  After thinking about all of the excuses about being too busy to blog, I've come to the realization that I really haven't been too busy.  Sure I'm busy, but after all, I have a thriving farm on Facebook!  And if I can harvest crops, well...  I can blog.  So here I am, blogging...in the midst of studying for my preliminary exams.

http://phandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/farmville.jpg

So what's been cooking at Jen's house?  Before Christmas, it was lots of goodies (peanut butter balls, bourbon balls, poor man's turtles, apple cinnamon chex mix, and batches and batches of carmel popcorn.)  If you'd like any of the recipes of these goodies, let me know and I'll post them!


Now that the new year has started, I'm trying to cook more healthy (that means no more peanut butter balls for breakfast...well, until December 2011!)  Here's what I'm making for super tonight:  Orange Glazed Chicken, broccoli, salad, and some sort of potato.

Orange Glazed Chicken


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T. of  dry Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 T. dijon mustard
1/4 c. Italian salad dressing (I like Ken's Lite Northern Italian)

1/2 c. Marmalade (apricot preserves work well if you don't care for marmalade.  And you don't have to use Dundee brand, any brand will do!)


Mix the soup mix, mustard, salad dressing and marmalade together.  It will be a little chunky...you can put it in a small saucepan on low heat and it will be easier to mix, but it's not necessary.  Place the chicken in a 9x9 inch baking dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.  Pour half of the marmalade mixture over the chicken and place in a 350* preheated oven.  Bake for 20-25 minutes and pour the rest of the marmalade mixture over the chicken.  Bake 5-10 minutes longer, until chicken is done and juices run clear.

This is also good with porkchops!

Enjoy~

When I wrote the post this afternoon, I had decided on having broccoli and potato.  However, reality was a bit different.  I did make a potato dish (pan fried leftover potato for Jeff,) brown rice pilaf, (for me and JP) corn (for Jeff again) and salad.  It was yummy! 

I only had 1/4 c. of marmalade, so I combined marmalade and apricot preserves to make 1/2 c.  It was a great combination! 

If you're getting tired of rice or potato, the Near East brown rice pilaf is a good variation.  It's "a blend of whole grain brown rice with toasted orzo pasta."  I omit the oil/butter it calls for on the directions.  Without the oil/butter for 1 cup (which is a lot!) it's 1 g. of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein and 600 mg of sodium.  I usually don't like prepackaged spice mixes that come in rices, but this one is pretty good. 

Chicken Rice Bowl

JP and I had Chicken Rice Bowl for supper last night.  It was pretty darn good!  It was so good, that I completely forgot to take a picture!  I had several similar recipes and decided to create my own marinade/sauce.  Enjoy~

Chicken Rice Bowl
serves 4

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs with visible fat removed


1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. white wine
1/4 c. frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 c. honey
1 T. sesame oil
4 green onions, sliced (white and green part)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 inch piece ginger, shredded

2 c. cooked rice, any type
2 c. steamed broccoli 


In a large Ziploc type bag, combine the soy, wine, OJ concentrate, honey, oil, green onions, garlic and ginger.  Mix well.  Add the chicken thighs.  Squeeze most of the air out of the bag and seal.  Refrigerate for 2-24 hours.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Remove from the refrigerator.  Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray.  Pour the chicken and marinade into the pan.  Make sure the chicken is all bone side up or bone side down...it doesn't matter, as long as all the pieces are the same.  Cook for 20 minutes, remove from oven and turn the chicken over.  Bake for 15-20 more minutes, making sure the sauce doesn't burn.  Remove from the oven.

In 4 pasta size bowls, spoon 1/2 c. of cooked rice into each bowl.  Add 1/2 c. of steamed broccoli.  Place 2 chicken thighs on top and pour cooked sauce over it all.  Enjoy~

You can substitute other steamed veggies rather than broccoli, or even use a veggie mixture.  You could also substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but if you use them, the chicken won't be as flavorful or juicy. 

Tip:  Ginger...fresh ginger is awesome!  An easy way to peel ginger is to use a spoon (just a regular teaspoon!) just like a potato peeler.  A spoon gets into those little corners and just takes off the thin skin.  I use a Kycera grater.  Watch out, those spikes are sharp and will cut you!

Spicy Chicken Taco Salad

Spicy Chicken Taco Salad
Serves 4


3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. Southwest Seasoning (like my Southwest Seasoning found here)


1 head romaine lettuce, sliced and chopped
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
4 T. sour cream
2 2-ounce bags of Doritos chips, crushed 

Optional:
Catalina or Russian salad dressing
Salsa 
Chopped black olives
Chopped avocado
Black beans


Place chicken breasts in a small crock pot.  Pour the Southwest Seasoning over the raw chicken and stir around to coat.  Cook on high for 4 hours.  Shred the chicken and turn off the crock pot.  You can serve the salads with warm chicken or cold chicken...it's up to you!


To make the salads, assemble the ingredients in bowls or plates.  Each bowl/plate will need 1/4 of the chopped lettuce, 1/2 of a chopped tomato, 1/8th of the chopped onion, 1/4 of the corn, 1/4 c. shredded cheddar, 1 T. sour cream and 1/2 of a bag of crushed Doritos.  Spoon 1/4 of the shredded chicken onto the prepared salad.  Top with salad dressing, salsa, avocado, black beans, olives if desired. 

Review:  This salad is very easy and yummy!  You can mix up the ingredients according to your tastes.  We enjoy using a little Catalina or Russian dressing to top the salad.  Since the chicken is cooked in the crock pot, it doesn't heat up your kitchen on a hot day.  This is also easy to prepare ahead of time for a quick meal.  I find that using the small bags of Doritos helps with portion control.  Enjoy~

Chicken Flat Bread Sandwiches

Last night JP and I attended a geocaching event, Riverside Pond Fireside Chat.  It was a lot of fun seeing some of our geocaching friends!  I made Chicken Flat Bread Sandwiches to take to the picnic and got several comments of how great they looked!  So without further ado...

Sorry about the half eaten sandwiches...they were just so yummy (and huge!)  This picture was taken this morning...these are the leftovers from last night!  You can see that JP ate the tomatoes and red peppers out of sandwich! 

Chicken Flat Bread Sandwiches


Makes 2 extra large sandwiches

2 pieces of flat bread (I bought a package of garlic flat bread from Walmart.  The label said "Flat Bread" and "Naan.")

1/4 c. mayonnaise
8 basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/4 c. hummus (like my Yummy, Yummy Hummus! but any type of hummus will do)


1 Chicken breast, thinly sliced (you can use any type of lunch meat, or combination)

4 slices Cheese  (you can use any type of cheese you'd like!)
1 thinly sliced red pepper
1 thinly sliced tomato
1/2 onion, thinly sliced


 Mix the mayo, garlic and basil together.  Stir well.

To make each sandwich:  Cut each piece of bread in half.  Place one half on a large piece of tin foil.  It should be about in the middle, but fold up the bottom edge of the foil to make sure you have enough to cover the bread.  This will help hold in the juicy goodness of your sandwich.  Unfold the tinfoil and prepare your sandwich!  Spread half of the mayo mixture on 1 piece of the flat bread.  Spread the other piece of flat bread with half of the hummus.  Layer on the sliced red pepper, tomatoes and onion.  Also add the thinly sliced chicken and cheese.  Top with the flat bread that has been spread with hummus.  Fold up the tin foil to cover the sandwich.  Tuck in the sides and secure the top.  

When you're ready to eat, just peel back the foil from the top of the sandwich.  You'll have a little pouch that will hold the juicy sandwich in!  You can peel the foil back as you eat and save your shirt from any drips! 


Review:  This sandwich is very versatile.  You can use any type of meat or cheese (I just happened to use left over chicken breasts from the night before!)  You can also use any type of veggies that you like.  Cucumbers would be great in this sandwich, along with feta cheese!  Next time, I might use a wrap type bread instead of the flat bread, just to try something different.  Enjoy~

Don't Worry, Eat Chicken Curry

I received a Christmas card from my Aunt Helen this year.  Inside the card, she wrote, "Don't worry, eat curry."  It made me laugh quite a bit.  Every time I use curry in the kitchen, I think, "Don't worry, eat curry."  And it makes me laugh.  So, don't worry...eat curry!  :)  And if you'd like to read about some benefits to adding curry to your diet, check out this site.  I'm not sure how true the information is...I didn't check the sources, but it was an interesting article.  

Don't worry.  Eat curry!

 

Chicken Curry


2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 T. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 T. red curry paste
1 T. curry powder
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
3 T. fish sauce
1 can lite coconut milk (not coconut cream)
2-1/2 c. chicken broth
1-1/2 c. rice
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped (optional)


Heat the EVOO in a dutch oven.  Add sliced shallots, onions and garlic.  Cook 2-3 minutes over medium heat.  Push the mixture to one side and add the chicken.  Cook 3-4 min on each side.  Remove the chicken from the dutch oven and add curry paste and curry powder.  Stir in coconut milk, tomatoes, fish sauce and chicken broth.  Stir well and increase heat to medium high.  Bring to a boil and add the rice.  Turn the heat down to low, add the chicken, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Add more chicken broth, if necessary.  During the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the frozen peas.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro when ready to serve.  Serves 4-6.

Review:  This is a very flavorful dish.  It is a one-pot meal that both JP and I love.  The chicken curry keeps very well and makes great leftovers.  I use hot curry powder from Penzeys.com to add a little more heat, but you can make is less spicy by using less of the red curry paste and regular curry powder.  I buy the red chili paste at the Asian market.  Enjoy~

Company Chicken

So yesterday, I took part in the Kindred  Connection from the Windy Poplars blog. 

Kindred Connection from Windy Poplars

One of the questions was about your signature dish...  Company Chicken is one of mine.  I've decided to share my recipe of Company Chicken with all of you great folks that read my blog!

A little background:  In the 1970's, my dad was in the Army and my mum was a part of the Officer Wives Club at one of the posts we were at...I believe it was Ft. Bliss, in El Paso, Texas.  This club had a recipe exchange and this is one of the recipes that was received.   My mum occasionally made this recipe when I was growing up.  I forget what it was originally called, but I started calling it Company Chicken because that is what we had when we had company for dinner!  I've lightened the original dish up a little bit...every little bit counts!  I've used lightened products, precooked my bacon and less sour cream...you can use regular products, uncooked Center Cut bacon, and more sour cream if you're so inclined!  Also, you can find dried beef in the canned meat section of your grocery store.  It's near the tuna fish and comes in a jar.  I buy Armor brand...because that's the only brand my store sells!  And they don't sell the pouches at my store!  I freeze the rest of the dried beef for the next time I make Company Chicken.  You may also find dried beef in your deli.  My inlaws can get it in their deli at their local market.

Company Chicken
serves 4-6
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
8 slices bacon (I use Center Cut)
16 slices dried beef
1 can 98% reduced fat cream of chicken soup
8 ounces reduced fat sour cream
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/8/ t. onion powder
fresh ground pepper

Rinse the dried beef several times in warm water, and let soak in a bowl of warm water and change the water twice while you're getting everything else ready.  Preheat the oven to 325*.

Cook the bacon until is is almost completely cooked.  You want the bacon to be soft and flexible rather than crisp.  I usually do this in the microwave.  Drain the bacon and pat dry with paper towels.


Mix the sour cream and cream of chicken soup together in a bowl.

Remove the dried beef from the bowl of water and squeeze dry.

Butterfly cut each chicken breast (cut it in half lengthwise.)  Check out this video from "Taste of Home" magazine for tips on butterflying chicken.  Open the chicken along the cut and place 4 pieces of dried beef.  Fold the chicken back up, like it was before you butterflied it.  If you're using thighs, you don't need to butterfly the meat.  Instead, place 2 pieces of dried beef along the "bone side" of the chicken thigh, and fold in half.

Wrap each chicken breast with 2 slices of precooked bacon and secure with a toothpick.  With the thighs, wrap each thigh with 1 slice of precooked bacon.

Place the chicken in a 9x9x2 inch casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam, or whatever cooking spray you use.  Sprinkle the chicken with pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  I usually don't measure this, but just sprinkle it on lightly.  Top with the sour cream mixture.

Cook for 40-50 minutes until it is bubbly and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve over pasta.  I always make peas as a vegetable.  The peas go really well with the chicken and the sauce.

Enjoy~

And there you have it...a chicken (and beef and pork) recipe good enough for company!  This recipe is always on the list of things to make when my husband returns from deployments!

Johnny's Grub Rub by Johnny

JP and I headed northeast this morning to the big town of Manhattan and their farmer's market.  We got some fabulous fresh fruits and veggies...Swiss chard, beets, strawberries, tomatoes, asparagus, cilantro, peanuts, sugar snap peas and gooseberries.  Have you ever tried a gooseberry??  The lady who sold them to us described them as tart.  She said they were a little bit more tart than Sour Airheads (a candy) or sour gummy candies.  Um, I don't know when she last ate sour candy, but gooseberries are a TAD more tart than sour candy.  Holy Moly Macaroni, they are tart!  Pure Pucker Power.

I spent this afternoon cooking.  I made roasted red pepper hummus, couscous salad, strawberry/gooseberry crunch and a superb BBQ rub.  I'll share other recipes later this week.  But for today, I'm all about the BBQ Rub.  I kind of stumbled upon this recipe.  Earlier this week, I found a BBQ rub recipe that was actually 2 recipes.  You made a spice mixture, and then used that in the Rub recipe, along with other ingredients.  I had it scribbled on 2 sticky notes and those sticky notes got stuck to something and never found it's way into the kitchen.  So I quickly looked up BBQ Rub on allrecipes.com, my go-to recipe website.  I sprinkled the Rub on boneless, skinless chicken breasts and let them sit for about 15 minutes before grilling.  Oh, it was delicious!

I used Penzeys Chili 3000 for the chili powder.  Penzeys says it's the Now Chili, and it is good...a little more spicy than traditional chili powder. 

Johnny's Grub Rub  by Johnny

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons ground paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

In a small, nonporous bowl, combine the garlic powder, ground black pepper, salt, mustard powder, chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, paprika and oregano. Mix well and apply to meat. 

Review:  I was a little worried about the amount of salt and pepper, but it worked well in the rub.  My chicken was tender and juicy with a little zing from the rub.  Some of the reviews on allrecipes.com said they thought there was too much cumin in the recipe,  However, I thought it was the right amount.  Next time, I'm going to use Penzys 4/S Special Smoky Seasoned Sea Salt
I think that will give it just a little bit more zing!  This rub would be great on pork chops, steaks, ribs and any other meat that is grilled.  I can't wait to experiment with other types of meat!  Enjoy~


By the way, if you're puzzled about who JP is...well, it's a funny story.  When Jacob was a toddler, we called his Jakey.  My niece thought we were calling him JP...and the name stuck.

Easy Grilled Chicken and Grilled Veggies

My inlaws left this afternoon after spending a few days with us.  They live about 260 miles away...close enough to visit, but far enough so they don't drop in unexpectedly!  It was great to see them and we had a wonderful time.  We traveled to the zoo in Salina yesterday and did some shopping.  My father-in-law, Leonard, did a few things around the house since Jeff is deployed, which I was very grateful for!  We played cards, did some geocaching, talked a lot and ate some pretty darned good food (of course, I'm biased a little bit!) 

Before they left this afternoon, I made a big dinner/lunch (another post for another day.)  It was terrific, but again, I'm a little biased!  The meal was different from my planned menu since we went out to eat last night and had a picnic lunch at the zoo.

Easy Grilled Chicken
Boneless/Skinless chicken breasts

Ken's Steak House Lite Northern Italian with Basil & Romano salad dressing
Gallon Ziploc-type Bag

Place the s/b chicken breasts in a Ziploc type gallon bag.  For every 3 chicken breasts, add 1/3 of the bottle of Ken's salad dressing.  So 3 chicken breasts = 1/3 of the bottle, 6 chicken breasts = 2/3 of the bottle, 9 chicken breasts = 1 bottle (you will need to use another bag if you're using 9 chicken breasts...it would be a little crowded in 1 bag with the dressing!)

Zip the bag and stick in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or up to 2 days.

Place the chicken on a med/hot grill.  Discard the salad dressing/chicken juice.  Grill 4-5 minutes and turn.  Continue grilling until chicken is no longer pink and cooked through....15-25 minutes, depending on the heat of the grill.

Review:  I've used a lot of different Italian salad dressings over the years and have found that I like Ken's Steak House Lite Northern Italian with Basil & Romano the best for marinating chicken.  It makes the chicken moist, and doesn't have a strong vinegary flavor.  Enjoy~

Grilled Veggies
1-2 medium zucchini squash
1 medium yellow squash
2 medium onions
1 medium green pepper
1 medium red pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes
8 ounces whole mushrooms
3 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. olive oil
2 T. Italian seasoning (Penzeys makes a good one, as does McCormick)
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
Gallon Ziploc-type bag
Bamboo skewers

Slice the zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise.  Chop into 1-inch chunks.  Seed and cut the peppers into large chunks (2 inch x 2 inch or so chunks.)   Put the spices, oil and vinegar into the Ziploc-type bag.  Add the chopped zucchini, yellow squash and pepper chunks.  Seal the bag and squish around so that all pieces are coated with the spice mixture.  Shake it up, baby!  Twist and shout!    (Click on the link!  My mum sings this song every time something needs to be shaken....and so do I!)Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or up to 2 days.

When you're ready to cook the veggies, slice the onions in half, then with each half, lay the sliced part on your cutting board and cut at 10 o'clock, 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock (you'll get 4 chunks of onion per half.)    Take the marinated veggies out of the refrigerator.  Thread the marinated veggies, mushrooms, onions, and cherry tomatoes onto wooden skewers.  You can put them in any order, but I like the zucchini or yellow squash on the ends...they don't shrink as much while cooking and fall off less than peppers, tomatoes, onions or mushrooms.  (You may want to soak the skewers in water before doing this step.  I never remember to do it, and the ends get a little charred, but that's OK.  If you don't want the ends of the skewers charred, soak them in water for 20 minutes.  It's up to you...)

Place on a med/hot grill.  Grill 4-5 minutes and turn.  Grill 4-5 minutes more.  It may take you more or less time depending on the temperature of your grill.  I like my veggies a little crisp with a little char on them them.  (Cook according to your tastes...not mine!)


Review:  I LOVE these veggies!  I've experimented with more/less oil, vinegar, spices and ready made Italian salad dressings, and this is what I've come up with.  The veggies are moist, flavorful, without being too vinegary.  I don't like to marinate the mushrooms (they get soggy), the onions (they fall apart) or the tomatoes (they get squished.)  However, feel free to change a few things to make it fit your tastes!  Enjoy~

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I made Cajun Chicken Pasta last night for supper and it was good! I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman a few weeks ago. I've made a few changes to the original recipe. I have a hard time using cream and excessive butter that are in many of her recipes...My genes (and jeans) don't do well with the extra calories! So here is my version of Cajun Chicken Pasta! ~Enjoy~

Cajun Chicken Pasta
(serves 4 generous portions)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1-1/2 T. Cajun Spice Mix

Mix together and let marinate while you get everything ready!

2 T. olive oil
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1-1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. white wine (If you don't want to use wine, just increase the chicken broth to 2 cups)

1 c. milk
3 T. flour
Whisk flour and milk together.

Enough spaghetti for 4 people

1/2 t. Crushed Red pepper (optional)
1/2 t. Cajun Spice Mix (optional)

This cooks quickly, so it's best to have all of the ingredients ready to go before you start cooking! Trust me on this... Also, start your pasta so it will be done when the chicken is done!

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium/high heat. A cast iron pan is great, but if you don't have one to use, that's OK. Use what you have! Add half of the chicken, but don't stir. Allow the chicken to brown. (I have a hard time with this...I want to stir it. Resist!) Flip the chicken to the other side and cook about 1 minute, or until it's brown. Remove the cooked chicken and add the rest of the uncooked chicken, repeat the cooking the chicken steps. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Add the sliced peppers and onion to the hot pan and cook for about 1 min. You want the peppers and onions to get brown...not burned, but brown parts. Stir every so often so they don't burn. The bottom of your pan will be dark brown, but don't worry! If you're using cast iron, I don't know if the bottom of the pan looks dark brown. After the veggies have dark brown parts, add the garlic and the drained tomatoes. Give a quick stir and cook for about 1 minute.

Add the wine (if using) and chicken broth. Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. I like to use a whisk to help get the browned bits up. Add the chicken back to the pan and stir.

Scoot the chicken and veggies to the side of the pan and add the milk and flour mixed mixture. Whisk until it starts to thicken and bubble. Turn down the heat to low. Stir the veggies and chicken into the bubbling sauce and mix well. Cook about 1 min. I add about 1/2 t. more of the Cajun spice mix and about 1/2 t. Crushed Red Pepper, but I like things spicy! Use your judgment and your tastes!

Add the cooked pasta and mix well. If your frying pan isn't big enough to add the cooked pasta, you can serve the pasta on plates and spoon the Cajun Chicken over it.

Notes on Cajun Spice Mix. Last night I used McCormick's Perfect Pinch Cajun. I found it in the spice section of the grocery store. I've also used Penzeys Cajun Style Seasoning. I like the flavor of Penzeys Cajun Spice, however, it's not as hot/spicy as the McCormick's brand.