If you don’t know what jambalaya is, it might sound like a made-up word. If you do know what it is, you might think that it’s too intricate and expensive for you to make on your own. Both of those thoughts are incorrect. Jambalaya is a Creole dish that will bring you some hearty New Orleans flavor without breaking the bank or interrupting your other activities.
There are very few ingredients for this meal, so your shopping trip should be quick and cheap. You can generally find Zatarain’s Jambalaya Mix on sale for about $1 at Publix. I would buy two boxes because I’m a leftovers fan, and this meal saves really easily in the event you have extra. You’re also going to want to buy some nice Cajun sausage for around $3 per package. For every box of mix you bought, buy a package of sausage. If you don’t care for sausage, shrimp is a nice substitute. If you don’t care for meat at all, go grab yourself some veggies to mix in instead - celery is a particularly popular one for jambalaya.
Now, something that really comes into play with this dish is how spicy do you want it. I don’t happen to like really spicy meals, but you might be just the opposite. Fortunately, there are different types of rice that you can use to get that perfect flavor for you - Zatarain’s offers mild, original, and spicy in their jambalaya mixes. And in the event you’re a not-so-spicy person and you can only find the hottest boxes of rice, you can dilute them with white rice.
When it comes to preparation, put 2.5 cups of water in a pot on the stove, and let it boil. While you wait, feel free to cut up your sausage. A good size is to have the pieces about half an inch thick, but feel free to cut them to however big or small you’d like. When the water has boiled, pour in the rice, mix, and sausage. Mix it well, put the heat on low, and cover the pot for about 25 minutes.
When it’s all done, let it cool for a few minutes before you settle in to enjoy some of that New Orleans flavor on your college budget.
