Cajun Chicken Pasta

I've gotten to the point with blogging recipes that I frequently have to go back and make sure I haven't already posted the dish. Especially when it's a dish that Darrell and I do all.the.time, and I'm convinced that I've already posted it. Enter this recipe. Darrell and I have been making it for about as long as we've been dating, and we frequently serve it for guests because it is delicious and presents well. So when we made this the other night, I was convinced that I'd already blogged it. And turns out I had--but just in passing, not actually with the recipe and picture. Well, it's about time I remedied that. Unfortunately, I got to the picture a little late (I had to take the picture of Darrell's plate because I'd pretty well devoured mine by this time), so it isn't exactly "staged" well, but it gets the job done (and in my opinion, still looks delicious).

Cajun Chicken Pasta

1 lb linguine pasta
2 chicken breasts
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tbsp butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

Coat the chicken in the Cajun seasoning. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes). Remove from pan. Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and green onion to the pan. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken back into the pan and reduce heat to keep warm. Meanwhile, bring a slightly salted pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain. Stir in the cream and seasonings; mix well to coat. Serve the chicken and vegetables over the pasta and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

For the record, we don't actually follow a recipe any more when we make this dish; we just kind of make it. Most of the quantities are taken off the recipe card we wrote down years ago, and since we don't really measure, so you might have to do some tweaking to fit your tastes (I would bet we actually use more spices than the quantities listed). I also tried to keep the directions pretty true to how we actually make it (and not what's written on the card, which is surprisingly different). One definite change that I will point out, though, is the amount of pasta. Our recipe card actually calls for only 6 oz of linguine to be used, but we found that such a small amount would just drown in the cream (plus we don't really like using half boxes). So we just started using a full box, but never actually changed the amount of vegetables or chicken. We usually end up with more pasta leftover than anything else, which works out fine for us because I have no issues eating the pasta on its own for leftovers. However, if you were wanting to make this for a crowd (or make it more proportional), I'd just double the amount of chicken and vegetables used. Whatever you do, you should definitely give this recipe a shot. It's easily customizable and delicious to boot!