Zatarain's is a friend of sausage

One of my fave rice brands is Zatarain's. New Orleans is practically next door to Texas.

In fact, Houston is kind of 'Big Brother' to New Orleans. There's been commercial and familial interaction between the two cities for generations. And they love to share food.

When Hurricane Katrina tore into New Orleans, the cities of Houston and San Antonio played major roles as refugee centers. For one season, the New Orleans Saints played half their football games in San Antonio's Alamodome.

We like their Cajun dishes. And they like our Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes. And looking for a Zatarain's rice box on the grocery shelf is as natural as looking for a favorite brand of tortillas.

I wanted to take some Opa's Jalapeno Smoked Sausage, chop it with some vegetables and pair it with some Zatarain's dirty rice. I chopped broccoli and added some frozen peas and carrots.

In one pot, I cooked up the dirty rice. And in a skillet, I had the sausage bits cooking on low heat. I made a simple sauce with water, vegetable oil, corn starch, salt and basil. Then I tossed into the skillet the veggies.

Once the veggies go in, let it cook for another five minutes or so. I don't like to cook so long that the broccoli gets mushy.

The box instructions suggest 25 minutes for the dirty rice, but I've had luck with 20 minutes. I guess it depends on how hot the pot is simmering and how soft you want the rice.

Spoon out the proportion of rice you want and heap the sausage and veggies over it. I served this dish with a merlot wine.

Zatarain's dirty rice with sausage, veggies

More recently, I made a similar dish with Zatarain's Jambalaya rice. I cooked Opa's German sausage in a pan with some slices of pork loin.

What I had on the cutting board was a sweet potato and cabbage, both were chopped and throw into the jambalaya rice pot. The sweet potato and cabbage is stirred in and it cooks fine. I didn't have to add more water than what was suggested on the box instructions (2 1/2 cups).

It really turned out great. Of course, my version ended up with a spicy dose of my homemade hot sauce, but the seasonings in the Zatarain's jambalaya are great; it doesn't need anything else.

I know! Jambalaya is supposed to have shrimp and okra. Maybe next time!

Buen provecho.