There are a crazy number of food holidays. I don’t know who comes up with these things, but these days it seems if you can think of a food, there is probably a day, week or even a month honoring that food. For the most part I pay no attention to these dates, save a few. National Grilled Cheese month in April is a no-brainer of course, and I cannot possibly resist Pi(e) Day. I usually forget about chocolate chip cookie day until a reader reminds me, and then I absolutely must celebrate it. And of course, I absolutely will always celebrate National Macaroni and Cheese Month which is now – January! There’s still time to take advantage :)
As I have in years past, I teamed up with my friends from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board to create a new recipe in celebration of mac and cheese month for the 30 Days, 30 Ways with Mac and Cheese Blog. This year the theme is mac and cheese versions of other classic dishes. Many possibilities came to mind, but the accidental excess of bell peppers in my fridge combined with my near-constant craving for chicken fajitas led to this. Chicken fajita mac and cheese. If you’re a little wary of combining these two dishes, don’t worry – I was right there too. But one bite of this and I was sold. Oh, yes sir. These two dishes meet in a very happy marriage. Cheesy pasta goodness with tender sautéed onions and peppers and spiced chicken. It far surpassed my expectations and now is one of my absolute top favorite mac and cheese recipes, a title I don’t take lightly. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it.