On budget for meals? Go Dutch

It's easy to create a fabulous dish on an unlimited budget. But the Greater Wasatch Dutch Oven Society's cook-off held recently at Gardner Village offered a bigger challenge — cooking a bread, a main dish and a dessert with ingredients that cost less than $20.

The results are some thrifty meals you can make at home, in a Dutch oven or in a conventional oven. The judges saw a lot of chicken and rice instead of pork tenderloin and filet mignon. Several contestants did chicken cordon bleu or similar-themed dishes, including junior winners Sheldon and Parker Hayworth of West Jordan. Two teams — including novice winners Ben and Debbie Auxier of Orem — cooked jambalaya, where the chicken and sausage can be stretched with rice and lots of spices. The top winners, Jay and Carol Fuller of Lehi, won with Herb-Roasted Chicken, French Bread and Hummingbird Cake.

Here are a couple of the winning recipes:

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CAJUN JAMBALAYA

1 cup long-grain rice

2 cups water

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1/2 cup kielbasa sausage

1 teaspoon three-pepper seasoning (recipe follows)

1/2 pound salad shrimp

1/4 teaspoon bottled pepper hot sauce

Cook rice in water according to package directions and set aside. In a 10-inch Dutch oven, cook onion, celery, green pepper and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sausage and 1 teaspoon of three-pepper seasoning. Bring to boiling.

Reduce heat. Cover and simmer with 11 coals on bottom for 30 minutes. Stir in shrimp and hot pepper sauce. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes. Stir in rice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Serves 6.

Three-pepper seasoning:

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon ground red

pepper