The Trinity: Not just for Sunday morning

The Trinity. Not the holy one, and not a college. You'll hear Cajuns talk about adding the Trinity to their roux (see previous post) as the next step of making staple dishes, such as gumbo. But what the heck are they talking about?

Simply, the Trinity of Cajun cooking is onion, bell pepper, and celery. What's funny to me is that I always add garlic to these ingredients. So what does that make it? A quartet?

Typical Trinity:
1 onion
1/2 green bell pepper
2-3 celery stalks

And I also add about 2-3 cloves of garlic. All ingredients should be finely chopped. This is the time to break out your food processor (or whopper-chopper as my mom calls it). I usually do this in batches. Chop the onion and garlic together, then place in a bowl. Chop bell pepper and celery, and then add to the same bowl. Now your trinity + garlic will be ready to use when the recipe calls for it.

TIME SAVING TIP:

For the busy person, the trinity + garlic can be chopped ahead of time. No early than the night before. I typically do prep work for dinner during my toddler's afternoon nap. Keep chopped veggies in an airtight container in the fridge. Then once your roux is the perfect color, you're ready to add the trinity right away.