The Dirty {Southern} Boil

I have the tastiest. Most drool worthy. Easy. Uuber delicioso dinner recipe to share. Eeeeee. Are you excited?

I am.

First let’s cover…

Lunch and Fitness.

Lunch was good old Mexican Food. I’m on a Fajita roll, people.

They’re just good. And really easy to follow on my happy tummy diet. I just skip the rice and sometimes the beans. But in my opinion, a legume never hurt anybody. I was really hungry while waiting so I did eat an entire basket of corn chips. That’s probably not advised for a happy tummy.

I took a rest day today and skipped the gym. With my knees being so inflamed and the race in 2 weeks I definitely don’t want to over do it and make my knees worse. My 6 mile run Sunday has left them a little sore. Tomorrow it’s an hour on the elliptical for sure.

Say Goodbye to Summer.

While I was looking for recipes to make tonight I just felt like summer is over. The weather is a little more chilly. Pumpkin everything is everywhere. And squash is literally taking over the produce area of the market. Fall is here. So I wanted to say hurrah’ to summer with a summer-y recipe.

Nothing feels more summer than bbq and southern cookouts so I decided to make a southern-style boil. I’d never done one before so I hit up a few recipe sights to take a boil-poll on what to include in the ingredient list.

Here’s what I came up with.

An Easy Dirty {Southern} Boil.

Serves 6 | is about 500 calories | takes 1 hour total (with prep)

Ingredients

1 package Zatarains Crab Boil in a Bag
2 medium sized white onions, chopped
1 entire head of garlic, pealed and halved
1 1/2 pounds kielbasa sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 green peppers, chopped
6 ears of corn, cut into halves or thirds
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, shelled and deveined

*** in this recipe I used pre-cooked turkey sausage and pre-cooked shrimp.

Directions

In a stockpot, fill about half way with water. Add the Zatarains spice sachet, onion, garlic and bring to a boil.

Add the sausage and simmer on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Now add the peppers and corn, then bring back to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes. If you use raw shrimp, cook until they’re pink and opaque.

Strain. Serve with cocktail sauce. Bread would be amazing too.

So you don’t have to just use shrimp for this super simple recipe. You could also use crab, mussels, a chunky fish like cod, or crawfish. I think potatoes would be amazing in the mix.

FYI: if you use crab or a shellfish that needs to be shelled before eating, add a little vinegar. This will make the shellfish easier to eat. And if you’re feeling very adventurous add a little cayenne pepper. BAM!

Honestly, the prep is what takes the most time for this dish. It’s all super easy, and the cooking part goes really fast. It’s just all the chopping.

The first onion I diced was crazy potent. I was crying like I’d just watched the Notebook.

This packet of seasonings is really good. I’m probably going to stock up on a few next time I’m at the grocery store. You can find them at most super markets.

I almost didn’t find it at my market. I looked in the rice area with the other Zatarains boxed rice. Then I looked where all the gravy mix packets are. My supermarket had it in the meat and fish section. Just don’t give up. You’ll find it.

Don’t open the packet. Just put the whole thing in the water!