Cajun Chicken Pasta

Me and the boyfriend went to BJ's a while back, and I had the cajun chicken pasta. Oh my it was so delicious. And they even gave me super garlicky garlic bread on the side (note to self: make sure boyfriend eats some of that bread next time so I don't feel so awkward about garlic breath). And the portion was so big I saved about half of it for lunch the next day. But enough about BJ's (even though it is pretty awesome). Onto this recipe I found on The Small Things Blog last week. I was so freakin' excited to see this recipe I almost did a dance. Which would've been bad because I was in class. Don't judge. Even better, I already had all of these ingredients except the bell peppers and cajun seasoning so I didn't have a huge shopping list. I made this for me and the boyfriend with a tossed salad and a nice loaf of bread with lots of olive oil to dip it in. 

Ingredients:

4 oz. linguine pasta

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

2 tablespoons butter

1 red bell pepper, sliced (they're more expensive than the green so I left it out)

1 green bell pepper, sliced

4 fresh mushrooms, sliced (Boyfriend kinda hates mushrooms so no mushrooms)

1 green onion, chopped (I used 1/4 white onion instead)

1 cup heavy cream (substituted 2% milk for this and added a tbs of cornstarch to thicken)

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Boil the pasta until al dente (usually 8-10mins).

2. Place chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat.

3. In a large skillet over medium, melt butter and add chicken. Saute until almost tender (7-8 mins)

4. Add peppers, onion, and mushrooms. Saute and stir for 3 mins. Reduce heat.

5. Add cream and spices. Heat through. Add linguine and heat through.

6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve!

I would definitely recommend using the full amount of cream, or at least half cream/half 2% if you're wanting to save calories. But my sensitivity to milk seems to get worse if it's heavy cream I'm eating, so 2% was what I used. Next time, I'm going to chop up my bell peppers more finely and add a little bit more seasoning. It wasn't as spicy as I like. Other than that, it was a yummy recipe and I'll be making it again soon.