Skillet Chicken Fajita Pasta — The One-Pan Wednesday Dinner

Mid-January. The cold week, with the high Wednesday at thirty-six degrees and a small ice glaze on the front steps Tuesday morning that Cody’s old work boots scraped salt across so they would not freeze. Cody is on day three hundred and seventy-five of his sentence and on his fifth piece for the workshop. The fifth piece is the long one about the bathtub during the 2013 tornado. He has been writing it since October. He told me at the thirty-ninth visit Saturday morning that it is almost done. Mrs. Davis from the Tulsa Library has read a draft and has asked Cody if she can submit the finished piece to a national literary magazine called The Sun.

The Sun is, Mrs. Davis told Cody, one of the most respected literary magazines in the country, with an acceptance rate of about one percent of submissions. Cody asked her at the workshop, why submit then. Mrs. Davis said, because if it gets in, it changes your life, and if it does not get in, the rejection letter is still a thing you wrote a piece worth submitting to a one-percent magazine. Cody said yes. The piece is going out in February.

And the recipe Wednesday was skillet chicken fajita pasta because the schedule was tight (school plus Sonic shift-lead training plus my Wednesday-night batch-cake prep for the weekend job) and because the recipe was a one-skillet dinner that combines fajita flavors with pasta and runs in twenty-five minutes start to plate.

The math: a pound of chicken breast on the markdown rack $3.49, a red bell pepper $0.99, a green bell pepper $0.79, an onion $0.20, a packet of fajita seasoning $0.69, a 14-oz can of diced tomatoes $0.79, a half-pound of penne $0.45, a cup of chicken broth from bouillon $0.10, a half cup of shredded mexican blend cheese $0.50. Total: about $7.99 for a dinner that fed Mama and me Wednesday and Thursday.

The technique is the one-skillet build. You sear the cubed chicken in olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. You add sliced bell peppers and onion, cook until softened. Stir in the fajita seasoning. Pour in the diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Add the dry penne. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook fifteen minutes, stirring once or twice, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the cheese off the heat.

The dinner came together in twenty-five minutes. Mama said, when she ate this, baby, the kitchen has stopped surprising me but it keeps not stopping. The fajita-pasta combination is, I have decided, going on the rotation list.

The recipe is below. The trick is cooking the dry pasta in the skillet liquid — the pasta absorbs the broth and tomato as it cooks. Do not pre-cook the pasta in a separate pot.

One-Pot Cajun Jambalaya

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces andouille sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon homemade Cajun seasoning (see below)
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 green onions, sliced, for serving

Homemade Cajun Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix the Cajun seasoning. Stir together paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add andouille slices and cook until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Cook the chicken. Season chicken pieces with half the Cajun seasoning. Add to the pot and cook until golden on the outside, about 3–4 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the sausage.
4. Sauté the holy trinity. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper to the pot. Cook until softened, about 4 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
5. Build the jambalaya. Stir in the rice, remaining Cajun seasoning, diced tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, and bay leaf. Return the sausage and chicken to the pot. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
6. Simmer until the rice is tender. Reduce heat to low, cover tightly, and cook for 18–20 minutes without lifting the lid. The rice should be tender and the liquid fully absorbed.
7. Rest and serve. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, fluff with a fork, taste for salt and pepper, and top with sliced green onions.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 435 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 890mg