Cajun For Days

One of my must-do’s on vacation is to do a supermarket sweep bringing back local food favorites to recreate each areas unique cuisine at home. No place I’ve been has more iconic foods and flavors than New Orleans.

This Oregon born girl was excited to try to meld the two worlds together; adding in more vegetables, but with Cajun flair.

My first attempt was Creole seasoned roasted kale. Going to the grocery store, Rouse’s, with locals was great because they showed us the must haves, with this seasoning being at the top of their list.

Preheat the oven to 425 °

Line a baking sheet with foil (I just do this for easier clean up)

Pile high with kale

Drizzle olive oil over (I only had coconut, so that’s what I used this time) and sprinkle the Creole seasning to taste

Roast 15 minutes, mix and roast another 5 minutes

Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

Oregon meet Louisiana 😋

Incorporating the holy trinity was my next food adventure. The holy trinity in Cajun cooking is using celery, onion and bell pepper into savory dishes. No attention is paid to even knife cuts, or if they should be diced or minced or julienned; you just chop them up. I kinda like the no rules. This threesome is so prevalent that often large batches are made so they’re ready to go for the next recipe. Talking to a waiter while we were there also reminded us that the chopping must be done by hand, no food processors. In fact, he gave us a great quote of NOLA wisdom, “taking the easy street, takes the heart out of it.”