cajun dish

I really loved this recipe, it was not super heavy, but it was filling and had lots of veggies and chicken. You can control how much cajun spice you want, we don't mind being generous with cajun seasoning. This is pretty quick to make, it's just a lot of chopping, but then just throwing it in the wok or pan and your just about done.  Hope you will like this one as much as we did!

Here's what you'll need:

8 oz. of uncooked linguine

1 pound chicken breast strips

1 - 2 tsp. cajun seasoning

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium red & yellow bell pepper thinly sliced

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 cup fat free low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup skim milk

1 Tbsp. flour

3 Tbsp. light cream cheese

fresh cracked pepper

2 scallions chopped

salt to taste

Prep all your veggies. In a blender make a slurry by combining milk, flour and cream cheese.  Set aside.  Season chicken generously with cajun, garlic powder and salt.

Prepare pasta in salted water according to package.

Heat a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; spray with cooking spray and add half of the chicken. Saute 5 to 6 minutes or until done, set aside and repeat with remaining chicken. Set aside.

Add olive oil to the skillet and reduce to medium; add bell peppers, onions, and garlic to skillet, saute 3-4 minutes.  Add mushrooms and tomatoes and saute 3-4 more minutes or until veggies are tender  Season with 1/4 tsp. salt, garlic powder and fresh cracked pepper to taste.  Reduce heat to medium-low; add chicken broth and pour in slurry stirring about 2 minutes.

Return chicken to skillet; adjusting salt and cajun seasoning to taste, cook another minute or two until hot, then add linguine: toss well to coat. Top with chopped scallions and enjoy!

Feista Pear Dessert

So, I had a bunch of pears that we were eating and enjoying, but not fast enough! So I found this recipe for an amazing pear dessert. We have always loved fried ice ice cream, but it's a ton of work and time consuming. When I found this it reminded me of fried ice cream but not as much work and no frying. If you don't have pears you could easily substitute apples. Hope you enjoy!

Here is what you'll need:

4 Bartlett pears, cored and diced

1/2 c. white sugar

1 T cornstarch

2 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. lemon zest

1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1 quart vanilla ice cream

6 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1/4 c. honey

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 T white sugar

I didn't want to fry the tortillas, so I baked them. I just brushed each tortilla with a bit of butter and sprinkled them with cinnamon/sugar. On a cookie sheet turn empty soup cans or soda cans upside down and form the tortilla over the top.  Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

Combine pears, sugar, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and lemon zest. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil; cook 1 minute longer then let mixture cool.

Combine cookie crumbs, pecans and remaining cinnamon. Form ice cream into 4 - 6 balls (one for each tortilla bowl) roll in crumb mixture then place in freezer for 20 minutes.

When firm place an ice cream ball in each tortilla bowl. Top with cool pear mixture, the drizzle with chocolate and top with whipping cream.  If desired you may brush tortilla bowl with honey and dust with ground cinnamon/sugar before filling with ice cream.

If nothing else they looked really cool, but I promise they really do taste wonderful.  It was a little work but I enjoyed it, everyone thought they were great, hope you do too!