Roadside Diner

I just finished opening my rather stuffed up sinuses with one of my favorite quick and delicious winter indulgences.

In a sauce pan I sauteed up about a third of a pound of diced ham and bacon deli ends* along with a small diced onion and a tablespoon of diced garlic. Then I added some leftover chopped up chicken tenders** and tossed them in the pot. Next, I added 2-1/2 cups of water and a can of Ro*Tel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro, and brought the whole mess up to a boil.


To the boiling liquid I added 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and then dumped in the contents of a package of Vigo's Jambalaya Cajun Rice Mix, covered the pot and let it simmer for 25 minutes.


While it's good right away, I like the leftovers, which I freeze in individual portions, even better after they've been sitting in the freezer for a while. The heat -- and there is heat -- just seems to bloom more that way.

That's a huge pot full of goodness for a very reasonable amount of money.

_____

*My local grocery store always has these if you know where to look. I can usually score a pound for about $1.50. When I make these rice pots, I'm not totally wedded to pork. Chicken and/or turkey ends are good, too.

**Sometimes I order these out for dinner, and I can never eat the whole plateful by myself. I'm too damned cheap to let perfectly good protein go to waste, so I bring them home, even when it's only a single one. I store them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer to use later in soups or rice dishes. I do the same with popcorn shrimp, which I'd probably add in the last few minutes of cooking.