Well ... you can make it from whatever random ingredients you like, but technique is what we're talking here. Like all Cajun food (as opposed to Creole food), Jambalaya is poverty food, and in particular, is one that is designed for times when you really need to stretch not much meat/veggies to feed a lot of people. Thus the mostly rice base, flavored by cooking it with the meat and veggies. Nitpicking the cilantro is a bit petty, I know, but cilantro is one of those things that kind of doesn't go on Cajun food. (Well, I don't put cilantro in anything, actually, because to me it tastes like soap.)
Regular Tony's (green box) is pretty easy to find in most of the US, but has a fairly high salt content.
WalMart carries it in all stores AFAIK. The Spice and Herbs version is better, but harder to find, as is the red box version ("More Spice"). My own preference for all-purpose seasoning is Slap 'Ya Mama, which has less salt than Tony's green or red box blends. (They are both made in my home parish; two of the few profitable businesses in the entire area.)
. And the one pictured above is way too wet! Now I do prefer New Orleans red jambalaya vs Gonzales/BR area brown jambalaya personally. I like shrimp in it so, IMO, shrimp & sausage are good in red but not brown. I don’t get into the white beans & jambalaya thing that happens up there though. Didn’t know anything about that until I went to LSU. DH prefers the brown, but that’s hard to find down here.
