Spice Up National School Lunch Week – Cajun Style!

This week is National School Lunch Week!

For NSLW 2016, we are featuring recipes from our Meals Plus Customer Cookbook. This cookbook will feature 50+ delicious school meal recipes submitted by Meals Plus Customers and school lunch recipes using USDA Foods. And best of all – every Meals Plus Customer receives one free copy! Our second featured recipe is a Cajun Chicken Pasta and was submitted by Caldwell County School District (NC).

 

cajun1Ingredients:
9 lb. + 12 oz. – pasta penne noodles
1 1/2 gal. + 2 1/4 c. – water
9 oz. – liquid margarine
22 lb. + 8 oz. – frozen, dark meat chicken fajita strips
1/4 c. + 2 tsp. – Cajun seasoning spice
1 tbsp. + 2 1/4 tsp. – chili powder spice
2 c. – (drained weight) Jalapeno peppers
1 1/2 c. – canned pimiento-28 oz. can
1/2 c. – (chopped) raw onions/10#bag
3/4 Bag (25.22 oz.) – cream soup based – 6/28 oz.
3 qt. – Boiling water
1/2 tsp. – lemon juice, CND or BTLD
1/4 tsp – ground basil spice
1/8 tsp. – granulated garlic spice
1/8 tsp. – ground black pepper spice
1/4 c. – pouch spaghetti sauce
1 qt. – (shredded) mozzarella cheese, part skim milk

cajun-chicken-pasta

Directions:

  1. Bring water to a boil.
  2. Add pasta and cook 8 minutes or per package instructions. Drain. Add margarine to noodles and lightly toss to coat noodles. CCP: Place chicken in steamtable pan and steam for 15 minutes in steamer to an internal temperature of 165°F. Hold at 140°F. CCP: Wash/clean and chop jalapeno peppers and onions.
  3. Add jalapeno peppers, pimientos, and onions to chicken and steam for 5 minutes.
  4. Prepare Soup Mix per package instructions, then add lemon juice, basil, garlic granules, black pepper, and spaghetti sauce (or tomato paste or ketchup) to soup mixture. Add Cajun Seasoning & Chili Powder, and toss.
  5. In a large bowl, toss Soup Mixture with pasta. Add chicken mixture. Add water as needed
  6. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese per pan as a garnish. CCP: Hold at 140°F for hot service.

cajun3
Nutrients per serving:
Calories – 396
Chol (mg) – 155
Sodium (mg) – 708
Fiber (gm) – 1.67
Iron (mg) – 3.33
Calc (mg) – 50.89
Vit A (IU) – 217.2
Vit C (mg) – 3.9
Protein (gm) – 28.78
Carb (gm) – 37.97
Tot Fat (gm) – 12.11
Sat Fat (gm) – 3.50
Sugars (gm) – *3.9*
Trans Fat (gm) – 0.00

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