The weather is marginally cooler this week, so I'm making a big pot of minestrone this afternoon, and started dough for a couple of loaves of bread today. Comfort food! Gumbo up next as soon as it drops below 70 at night.

For the recipes this week, there's a fairly light stone-ground grits with spinach and shrimp from Virginia Willis. It'll be great for those of you in cooler parts of the country. Next, a simple dish of grilled shrimp with crushed tomatoes and lots of lime juice; that one needs plenty of hot butter French bread for soaking up the sauce and a roll of paper towels on hand to clean up.

And finally, my go-to choice for Cajun jambalaya. I've made it more than once to take to family reunions, and even though it almost fills my 5-quart Dutch oven, I never have leftovers to bring home. It's that good.

Enjoy the recipes, stay safe and healthy, and, as always, let me know what's on your mind.

Best regards,

Susan Ford, Publisher and Editorial Director

Louisiana Kitchen & Culture

Previous week's recipes:

 • White Bean Scampi Stew • Champagne Chicken • Grilled Shrimp, Corn, and Avocado Salad

Stone-Ground Parmesan Cheese Grits with Spinach and Shrimp

This recipe is from Virginia Willis, who trained under the venerated Nathalie Dupree. It's a lightened-up version of Nathalie's recipe-- she says Nathalie's grits are more accurately described as "heavy cream thickened with ground corn", which I could totally get behind.

Grilled Shrimp with Crushed Fresh Tomatoes

This is an easy recipe that needs to be served with lots of toasted, buttered French bread for sopping up the sauce tomatoes and sauce. You'll need to have plenty of napkins on hand also, as the shrimp are eaten by hand.

John Folse's Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

I make this for family reunions, always in my Lodge 5-quart cast-iron Dutch oven. I do most of the work the night before and finish it off the morning of; I wrap the pot in thick towels and it's still plenty hot enough to serve when I arrive where my family gathers 125 miles away. I've never brought home leftovers.