MexiMojito Cajun Chicken

After a couple of bland meals, Lisa decided that she would find something that would appease my spicy palate.  She decided on a Cajun Chicken Pasta dish from About.com.  Since I’m not a huge fan of pasta, I suggested that we use rice instead of pasta.  Of course, Lisa is probably still a little leery about cooking up rice in a pot, since she already burnt one thing of rice.  But, I instead, knowing that she would take extra care this time or at least I would watch over her shoulder to make sure she didn’t burn the rice.

Well, as things turned out, Lisa decided to stop off at her Dad’s after work, so I said I would tackle the recipe.  I had bought some McCormick Grill Mates packages a little while ago when they were on sale.  I had ones for chicken and steak, so I thought it would be a little easier to add some flavour by using some pre-made marinate.  The package I used was Mojito Lime.  To use the marinate, you mix some oil, vinegar and water with the spices together inside of a plastic bag with the chicken.  After making sure the chicken is well covered, just place it in the fridge, for at least 15 minutes, until you are ready.

The next step of altering the recipe was to use some Old El Paso rice box.  I had a box of Cheesy Mexican Rice in the pantry, so it was not going to be used.  The rice is simply prepared by mixing the spices, rice and water together until the spices are completely dissolved.  After everything is mixed, you cover it,  bring the rice to a boil and then let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.  After that period of time, you stir it and leave it uncovered for 10 minutes and it is ready to go.  While the rice was going, I started on the chicken.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound rotini, cooked according to pkg Cheesy Mexican Rice
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 3 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, sliced 1/2″ thick into strips
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (used dried minced garlic)
• 1 bunch green onion, chopped 1/2 white onion
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 8 ounces heavy cream
• 1 green bell pepper, julienned
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Cooking

For this recipe, I used my large wok pan.  Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken and cook with cover on for 8 to 10 minutes.  With the marinate, the chicken won’t brown and may take a little longer to cook.  When chicken is cooked add garlic, onions, Cajun or Creole seasoning and ground black and red peppers.  Add bell peppers and mushrooms; stir to combine.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Uncover; stir in cream and let simmer another 2 minutes.  Stir in Parmesan cheese.  Remove mixture from heat and mix into rice.  Serve immediately or whenever your wife finally gets home.

Tip: Mix the seasonings together in a bowl so that you can spread them all evenly on the chicken

Tip: While cooking this, I used a set of glass bowls that we received as a wedding present.  The bowls help store items to be used nicely, just like the real cooking shows.

Compared to the other meals, this was a taste explosion!  You can taste some spices right off, but then more kick in a little bit after you take the bite.  Lisa will probably give her own review.