Zatarain's Frozen Entrees

Most of you know that I do my share of cooking around here, and that while I do occasionally use some convenience products, my primary focus is on scratch cooking with fresh ingredients. Just like the rest of you though, I have days where I am too hot, too busy or just plain too tired to want to spend any time in the kitchen. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens.

Lots of folks are cutting way back on eating out in this economy and are often so busy that frozen dinners can help to fill in occasionally.  They are handy for busy workdays when you can't break away from the office, weeknights when life is a rush to begin with, and especially right now when the thought of cooking in this heat make you want to just skip eating altogether. I also know that many of you are already familiar with, love and use Zatarain's products – from boxed mixes, to pouches, to seasonings. I only recently learned, however, that they were carrying a new line of frozen dinner entrées so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to give them a taste test. There are currently eleven meals to choose from.

The first time I went to the store, I picked out Sausage and Chicken Gumbo and Jambalaya Pasta with Chicken and Sausage. I tried the gumbo first.

Crunchy Ramen Noodle Salad

A refreshing salad made with cabbage or broccoli slaw and crunchy oven toasted ramen noodles, bathed in a vinegar and oil marinade long enough to soften the veggies and noodles, but still leave a nice bite. Add in leftover beef, chicken, pork or shrimp to match the flavor packets and you have a great main dish salad!

Ramen Noodle Salad

Poor ole ramen noodles - they get a bad rap, because like most pre-packaged products, they tend to have high levels of sodium and flavor enhancements like MSG, but... how many of you will confess to having at least a couple of packets of them hanging around in your pantry right now?

I'll be the first because I pretty much always have a couple of packets in my pantry. They are a quick and easy meal that still rates better nutritionally than a pass through the fast food burger or chicken joint. So yes, while of course I don't eat them everyday, I do enjoy them guilt-free on occasion.

Cajun rice dressing is a rice based mixture similar to dirty rice and often served during the holidays. Some folks say omitting the livers is what sets it apart, but I like to include them along with a small roux.

Cajun Rice Dressing

This Cajun Farre Rice Dressing is essentially a dirty rice recipe, sometimes called Dirty Rice Jambalaya, that's been jazzed up a bit with a small roux for the holidays, beef stock added and baked, resulting in a more moist dish than dirty rice. It often makes an appearance both stuffed into some kind of bird or beef, or just simply as a side dish. 

I most often make this with chicken livers, or I use all of the giblets, though some folks say that rice dressing shouldn't have the livers - only dirty rice. I say do what you like! Love them? Use them. Not so fond of them? Don't use them. I happen to like them and so long as I grind them up, The Husband, aka The Cajun, who wouldn't touch liver for the life of him, gobbles it up. Hey, don't judge! All I can say is it works, because not only does he eat it, but he always goes back for more. 

 

Cajun Pork and Shrimp Burgers made with onion, bell pepper and celery, the Trinity of Cajun vegetables, Cajun seasonings and a blend of raw ground shrimp and pork.

Cajun Pork and Shrimp Burgers

Pork rules in the south, that's for certain.

Part of that comes from the fact that back in the day, just about everybody raised their own hogs, and believe you me, every part of that pig was utilized in some form.

These days we pretty much get our pork from the grocery store like most the rest of y'all, but pork still rules down in this part of The South.

New Zatarain's Products Spice Up Kitchens!

Well, it's my party y'all and what could be better than to start the week off with a giveaway?!  Yep. Deep South Dish dedicated recipe site is a year old this week!  Can y'all believe it?

In truth, I owe a gratitude to all of you for encouraging me with your continued support, for being regular readers, and especially for your friendship, your sweet comments, compliments and emails. You have made Deep South Dish a fun project to be involved with, but wow, has time flown by.

I don't know y'all, could it possibly get any hotter?  Lawdy Mercy!!  Well, "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," or at least get out of there faster, I say! It really has been a hot summer and just about everywhere too, even outside of The Deep South. Frankly it's been so darn hot, its hard enough to think about recipe development, never mind to actually get in the kitchen to create anything!  Well, thanks to the great folks at Zatarain's you can minimize that time and still produce an inexpensive, quality meal that'll be welcomed by your family.

My Mama's Shrimp and Fettuccine recipe, made with shrimp and andouille sausage, cooked in a buttery sauce tossed with fettuccine, fresh herbs, artichokes and pimentos.

Shrimp and Fettuccine

This recipe for Shrimp and Fettuccine was in my Mama's collection and written in her hand which always makes me nostalgic and miss her even more than usual.

She had written at the bottom of the recipe, "this dish will make them scream for more," which always makes me smile. Well, I don't know about all that, but I can say that this is definitely a restaurant quality pasta dish that, despite the inclusion of artichokes, The Cajun gobbles up and declares delicious!

That's a winner to me.

A rolled pastry dumplings with an infusion of heat and herbs.

Zesty Herbed Rolled Pastry Dumplings

These rolled dumplings for chicken and dumplings came about during one of these rainy periods we'd been having lately when I was poking through this rather overloaded freezer of mine, when I ran across a few chicken carcasses, some homemade stock and some already cooked chicken ... all taking up far too much room. After a bit of discussion on Facebook between soup, stew or chicken and dumplings - well, chicken and dumplings won out. I guess rain or snow, sleet or hail, or even oppressive southern heat and humidity ... you just can't separate us southerners from our chicken and dumplings!

A Lowcountry dish with some of our familiar Deep South elements, and similar in some ways to our jambalaya, with a touch of flavor akin to a Spanish rice.

Southern Red Rice with Shrimp and Bacon

This is one of The Cajun's favorite rice dishes and it's really easy to make.

It's a Carolina dish with a bit of my own Deep South flare and similar in some ways to our jambalaya with a touch of flavor akin to a Spanish rice.

My version contains some of our familiar Deep South elements, like Creole seasoning, hot sauce, and what else but the Trinity of Deep South cooking, plus the addition of one of our favorite southern seasonings - bacon.
Some people prepare this dish stovetop, but I like the oven method, because to me it's a whole different texture and flavor level. But it's hot outside, so either way will work if you don't want to crank up the oven. You can also omit the shrimp if you like.

Jill Conner Browne, Sweet Potato Queen and our own Mississippi celebrity, calls this dish Death Corn Five because it's a great funeral food dish. A mixture of packaged Zatarain's yellow rice with Mexican corn and the addition of jalapeno and pepper jack cheese - it's spicy good!

Spicy Rice and Corn Casserole

This spicy rice dish combines yellow rice, Mexican corn, jalapenos and pepper jack cheese making it flavorful and a perfect side for just about any beef, pork, or chicken dish.

If you don't have Zatarain's products (#ad) in your area, there are several other brands of yellow rice, any of which would be an appropriate substitute. There's also a great recipe for a homemade yellow rice in my cookbook (#ad)!