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Three Perfect Lazy-Days-of-Summer Dishes

Captivate your crowd with a colorful cuisine that’s easy to cook!

Part of living the good life is kicking back and relaxing with family and friends and one dish that makes it super easy to celebrate a lazy day this summer is Jambalaya!

Pronounced “jahm-buh-LIE-uh,” this dish is believed to have originated in southern Louisiana by the Cajuns around the bayou area where food was scarce. The word is said to be a compound word of Jambon, from the French meaning ham, and Aya, meaning rice in African. Since there were many slaves in Louisiana at the time, it makes perfect sense.

A Little Jambalaya History

In The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, John Mariani offers a more colorful origin of the name: “A gentleman stopped by a New Orleans Inn late one night to find nothing left for him to dine upon. The owner thereupon told the cook, whose name was Jean, to ‘mix some things together’ –balayez, in the dialect of Louisiana — so the grateful guest pronounced the dish of odds-and-ends wonderful and named it ‘Jean Balayez.’”

The first printed reference appeared in a 1900 cookbook, The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book, which calls the dish “Spanish-Creole.” Considered simple to prepare because it is a one-pot dish, Jambalaya is comprised of a rich stock that is created from vegetables and meat you toss in, and then raw rice is added to absorb the flavor as it cooks in.

Easy On The Palate And The Pocketbook

An ideal dish to cook for a crowd, Jambalaya is economical too, and the best part about it is it has a recipe that can bend to your taste preferences and or your pocketbook too! Made using your choice of meats, fish or seafood – beef, pork, chicken, duck, shrimp, lobster, oysters, crayfish, sausage or any combination thereof – you get to decide what your own jambalaya will taste like, and also if you want to make some for just yourself or a crowd!

Here are three suggestions, below, to help you have a lazy day this summer:

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