I’m writing about this now because I didn’t want to think about it anymore at the time.  In retrospect, it’s worth sharing–mostly the recipe, partially the story and the very mild trauma.

“What was this mildly traumatic event?” you might ask.  Keep in mind that I did say “mildly.”  

I was cooking up one of our favorite quick dinner recipes, chipotle chicken tacos with radish and avocado salsa (plus some regular salsa on top, because it’s extra delicious that way).  I added some extra chipotle peppers to the cooking chicken.  We really like chipotle peppers in adobe sauce around here.  If you follow the recipe, it’s spice-appropriate for just about anybody.  I was aiming for one level hotter than that.

Somehow, the extra peppers mixed with a too hot pan and made spicy pepper smoke that made both of us feel like our lungs were on fire.  You know we like to eat, because we chowed down on the tacos despite the burning pepper lung situation that lasted for a few hours.  [Cough, munch, cough cough, munch munch.]

Okay, maybe it was funnier in person.  And more fiery.  

About a minute into the problem, we thought of the perfect solution for future enjoyment of tacos.  Cook the chicken outside on the grill.  Even in the fall or winter, a jacket should solve most weather-related issues.  And you can probably rid your yard of pesky critters with the pepper smoke, too.  Next time.