Inspiration from Inspiration

Last week I had one of those weeks where I struggled for inspiration on what to cook for dinner - it was one of the most helpless feelings I have experienced - how could I not come up with any inspiration when I live to cook? Wow, was I annoyed with myself!

Anyway, I remembered that Inspiration on Food24 had come up with a Cajun Spice Challenge (I am a bit late, but oh well - better late than never:))

Being as uninspired as I was, it was a huge effort to come up with a dish to use the cajun spice with and I eventually settled on a pasta dish with roasted veggies - very simple, very quick, but packed full of flavour.

Cajun Spiced Roast Veggie Pasta:
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

Cajun Spice:

1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Chilli Flakes or Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Dried Basil
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin

* Other options include Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Cayenne Pepper, and Dried Thyme
* Please adjust the measurements to your taste - if you don't like it very spicy use less chilli, etc and feel free to experiment with different flavours

Other Ingredients:

A Selection of Roasting Vegetables (I bought a packet of Roasting Veggies from Woolies, which contained butternut, peppers, onions)
Olive Oil
Extra Cinnamon
Fructose
Lemon
Basil Infused Olive Oil (Optional)
Gluten Free Pasta of Your Choice - For Two

Directions:

Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Create the cajun spice by combining all the ingredients together
Toss the veggies is a little olive oil and cover with as much of the cajun spice mix as you wish (make sure that each piece of veggie is covered in oil so that is doesn't burn and cooks through nicely)
Roast in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes
10 minutes towards the end of cooking I poured over a mixture of a squeeze of lemon juice, a teaspoon of fructose, teaspoon of cinnamon and a drop of water - not too much through - my thinking behind this was to add another dimension of flavour
You can turn the grill on towards the end of roasting to give the veggies crispy edges
Once the veggies are done - if desired squeeze over some more lemon juice and a drizzle of basil infused olive oil
Toss through the pasta (reserving some of the pasta liquid to make a bit of a sauce)