Monday, July 19, 2010

Zatarain's New Orleans Style Jambalaya Mix

We were in Walmart the other day and we saw that Zatarain's New Orleans Style Jambalaya Mix was on sale. I believe it was only $2 for a box. Now, I just lovveeee New Orleans style Jambalayas, so I figured we should buy a box to try out. Also, I've heard a lot of good things about Zatarains but I've never tried that brand before. So, it was a good time to give Zatarains a try. We then picked up a lb of smoked sausage that was also on sale at $2.50 and we were set to go.
Just like all the other stuff that I make, this was also really easy to make. Here's how you make it. Start off by boiling 3 3/4 cups on water in a large pan. Then, add in about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the water. Once the water comes to a full boil, add in the Jambalaya mix into the pan.
Stir the mixture and make sure that everything is nicely mixed in. Then, add in about 1lbs of smoked sausage (that has been cut up into smaller pieces). I used beef smoked sausage but you can pretty much use anything that you like.
I had some left over chicken breast (cooked) sitting in my fridge, so I decided to add them into the mix as well. That's entirely optional but the chicken sure tasted yummy in the Jambalaya. If you were to add in some chicken breast, make sure you add in cooked chicken breast and not raw. Just fry them up in a pan before adding it into the mix. Once the mixture comes to a boil, give it one good stir and turn down the flame. Cover the pan and allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes.
Now it's time to add in some shrimp. I had some white shrimp in my fridge too, so I thought that it would be nice to put some of those in. Again, this is entirely optional. Make sure that your shrimp is clean and peeled before adding it into the mix.
I also had about a quarter of yellow bell pepper in my fridge, so again, I decided to add that in. It was a good move though, I felt that the bell pepper really worked with this dish. After adding in the yellow bell peppers, return the mix to a boil and allow it to cook for another 15 minutes. Remember to stir occasionally to prevent the Jambalaya from sticking to the bottom of the pan. After it is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and allow it to stand for about 5 minutes or so. Then, fluff it up and it's ready to be served!
Here is it! A nice hot plate of Jambalaya! I was really pleasantly surprised that it tasted sooooo good. Not only was it easy to make, it was really affordable too. There was enough Jambalaya in that pan to feed the two of us for three meals. That means, it only cost us a little less than $1 per person per meal! How awesome it that??? :D

2 comments:

Heatherfeather said...

Looks great as always, guys :)

Charlene n Kevin said...

Thanks Heather! =D