Cajun Seafood Marinade

The blog traffic has tripled. People are home. People are cooking. People who have never cooked are cooking, and they are finding me — the truck driver who makes chili in a slow cooker and feeds four kids on a budget — and they are reading, and the reading is a hunger that has nothing to do with food. They want to know that someone out there is still cooking, still feeding people, still doing the ordinary things that hold the world together when the world feels like it is coming apart. I am still cooking. I am still feeding people. The ordinary things are the only things I know how to do, and the doing of them is my answer to the pandemic: I cannot cure the virus. I can make chili.

I posted a series this week: Pandemic Pantry Cooking. Meals made from what you have — canned goods, frozen vegetables, whatever is in the back of the cupboard that you forgot you bought. Rice and beans. Pasta with canned tomatoes. Chicken thighs from the freezer with whatever seasoning you find. The posts are getting thousands of shares because people are scared and the scaredness makes them want to do something, and cooking is something, and the something is manageable, and manageable is what people need right now.

Justin has been running. Every morning, before remote school, he puts on his sneakers and runs the county roads around the house — two miles, three miles, sometimes more. He does not tell anyone he is going. He comes back sweating and calm, and the calm is the point. The running is the therapy the therapist cannot provide right now because the therapist is also at home, on a screen, and the screen is not the same as the room, and Justin knows it, so he runs instead. The running is the room.

I made a big pot of red beans and rice — a pandemic meal, a budget meal, a meal that costs four dollars and feeds six people and tastes like you tried harder than you did. Smoked sausage, kidney beans, rice, Cajun seasoning. Josie said it tasted like vacation, which is the most optimistic interpretation of red beans and rice I have ever heard, and I will take it.

Josie calling red beans and rice a vacation was the best thing anyone said to me all week — and it reminded me that Cajun seasoning is genuinely doing the heavy lifting in this house right now. When I want that same bold, smoky Southern flavor on something beyond the bean pot, this Cajun seafood marinade is where I turn: it’s built entirely from spices already in your cabinet, it comes together in about two minutes, and it makes even a bag of frozen shrimp taste like you put in real effort.

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 0 min (marinade only) | Total Time: 5 min + 30 min marinating | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 to 1 1/2 lbs shrimp, fish fillets, or scallops

Instructions

Mix the marinade. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, cayenne, and hot sauce (if using). Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or heat level.
Coat the seafood. Place your seafood in a zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour the marinade over the top and turn to coat evenly. Seal or cover.
Marinate. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Do not marinate longer than 2 hours — the lemon juice will begin to break down delicate seafood.
Cook as desired. Remove seafood from marinade and discard the used marinade. Grill, pan-sear, broil, or saute over medium-high heat until cooked through — shrimp take 2 to 3 minutes per side, fish fillets 3 to 5 minutes per side depending on thickness.
Serve. Plate over rice, with crusty bread, or alongside roasted vegetables. A squeeze of fresh lemon finishes it perfectly.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cajun Seafood Marinade — The Seasoning That Turned a Pantry Meal Into a Vacation