Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Another "Cook-What-You-Have" Night!

This was fun. I'm going to call it Cajun Chicken Chili with Couscous...Alliteration!

I had some chicken in the freezer, so I pulled that out to thaw. I almost always have canned tomatoes. An onion and garlic. Why not use up the remaining bag of frozen corn. Wine? SURE!!! Seasoning...I recieved a free bottle of Cajun Seasoning from one of my larger orders from Penzey's (link is to the cajun seasoning, so you can see what it contains). Why not try it out. Also added some extra cumin, cinnamon, coriander, oregano and parsley.


I sliced the chicken (2 boneless/skinless breasts) thinly and tossed it in 2 heaping TB of the cajun seasoning and a big pinch of salt. Set that aside. Slice the onions and throw in a medium dutch oven with a TB or two of olive oil until soft and translucent. Add a few cloves of chopped garlic. Scoop out of the pot and set aside. Add the chicken (in batches) and saute until nearly cooked through. Remove to a bowl. When done with the chicken deglaze your pan with about a cup of dry white wine. Add the chicken and onions back into the pan. Add the corn and one can of diced tomatoes and their juice. Add the extra seasoning (cumin, cinnamon, coriander, oregano and parsley...small handfuls of each...if you have them. Lower heat to a simmer, cover and let go for a few minutes.

Meanwhile make a bit of Israeli Couscous...about 1/2 a cup of uncooked couscous will give you enough for two big servings and enough for a second bowl each.

Serve your Cajun Chicken Chili with a scoop of couscous on top. Mmmmm! Ladle a bit of extra broth into the bowl.


This was a tasty treat..."It tastes like more!" So we each had more. I'd love to have more things in this dish, but it was what I had. Some peppers. Some chorizo or andouille sausage. Maybe I'd chop or shred the chicken. But overall, I really enjoyed it. Oh, and maybe some broth or extra wine, to allow it all to mix with the couscous...which worked really well with this!

2 comments:

Dancer in DC said...

I loved the cajun spice - it definitely gave this dish a different flavor. Spicy like I like it, but not too hot. Lately we've had several dishes on the sweeter side, so this was an interesting change.

Stef said...

That sounds so good! My dad used to make a great chicken / saffron / tomato dish with rice. It was a recipe he put together after we ate a lot of similar stuff in Spain. It's deelish. I love a good spicy red sauce with chicken. Or with anything, really!