I was feeling like having something a little spicy, a little cajun, for dinner. I picked up a package of Chicken Andouille sausage, along with a pound of chicken breasts a couple days ago at the market. Trader Joe’s had chicken breast that had already been cut into large chunks, so I grabbed that. I’d never seen the already cut-up, uncooked chicken at Trader Joe’s before and loved the convenience of it for the dinner I wanted to prepare, so grabbed a one pound package.

It would be just as easy to pick up a pound of chicken and cut it yourself. If, however, you find the uncooked chicken at your market already cut into chunks, give it a try. It’s convenient. If not, just cut your breasts into 2 inch chunks.

I placed the chicken into a glass bowl and proceeded to mix together several spices to make my cajun spice mix. In a smaller glass bowl, I mixed together kosher salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.

Once I mixed the seasonings together, I poured it over my chicken, making sure all of the chicken was coated in the seasoning. I then covered the bowl and placed it in the refrigerator to marinate for 6 hours. If you are short on time, you can skip marinating that long and marinate for just a couple hours, or not at all … depending on just how short on time you are. I promise it will still be flavorful. I was just in an organized mood today and thought I’d get it prepared early.

Once I placed the chicken into the refrigerator, I took the time to cut four bell peppers – one of each color … green, yellow, red and orange. I only used a half of each for tonight’s recipe, so put the rest in a ziplock bag to snack on over the next couple of days.

Just look at those vibrant colors! Seeing all the wonderful color just screams “healthy and fresh” to me. I also cut half of a white onion to add to tonight’s dinner.

Once I was ready to cook our dinner, I pulled the package of chicken andouille sausage out and cut the links.

The andouille sausage is pre-cooked, so it would only need to be heated up in the skillet. I added it to the skillet once the chicken was cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.

To cook the chicken, I heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Once the pan was nice and hot, I added the chicken and cooked it over medium-high heat for 12 minutes.

Depending on the size of your chicken chunks, this could be done in 9-10 minutes. I used a meat thermometer to check the doneness of my chicken and once it hit 160 degrees, I added the peppers, onions and sausage to the skillet. (Chicken is done at 165 degrees. I knew I’d be cooking it a bit longer, so added the rest of my ingredients when the chicken reached 160.) If your skillet seems a little dry, add another 1/2-1 tablespoon of olive oil. I did this before adding the peppers, onions and sausage, making sure to scrape up any of the brown flavor bits on the bottom of the pan. There is so much flavor in those little brown bits, you don’t want to miss out on them.

I stirred the chicken, sausage and vegetables and reduced the heat to medium. I let it cook for 10 minutes, until the peppers started to soften.

I chose to serve this over whipped potatoes. If you want to enjoy this dish low carb, skip the potatoes. I used the small Dutch potatoes because they are already so creamy. There was no need to add butter or milk to them when whipping. I only added pepper. If you would like to add butter, milk or cream to your potatoes, by all means, please do. I tend to watch the fat intake, so chose to go without. Besides the fact that Dennis is still on his SealFit workout plan and he isn’t eating dairy at the moment.

I topped my dish with the green parts of a green onion. I just snipped them with my kitchen shears over the dish.

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

1 package chicken andouille sausage

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon olive oil, more if needed

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 green bell pepper, sliced

1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced

1/2 white onion, sliced

green parts of a scallion (green onion), for garnish

Directions

1. Place cut chicken into a large bowl for marinating.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix together kosher salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour over chicken, making sure to cover all of the chicken. Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator to marinate 2-6 hours.
3. Slice peppers into strips and each strip in half. Slice onion. Cut sausage into disks. Set aside.
4. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and let cook 10-12 minutes, until no longer pink in the middle. Add additional olive oil to pan if it seems dry, making sure to scrape up any brown bits off the bottom of the skillet.
5. Add sausage, peppers and onion to skillet. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for 10 minutes.
6. Serve over whipped potatoes, if desired.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris