Padma Lakshmi Debuts Frozen Food Line

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi has added a new venture to her resume: frozen food entrepreneur.

Padma is now selling her very own brand of paella, aptly billed as Padma's Easy Exotic Spanish Paella. The product is being sold at Costco stores in the Los Angeles area for now, before going nationwide later this year.

"I first had this festive and delicious Iberian specialty when I was living and writing about food there years ago," Lakshmi said in a release, according to the L.A. Times. "Since then, it's remained one of my favorites."

Her version of the famous Spanish dish includes Italian rice, garlic, saffron, red and green peppers, tomatoes, peas, chicken, chorizo and shrimp. It was inspired by Padma's time living in Spain, she says.

In the future, Padma will add more dishes to the line, including rice and lentil dishes and a range of organic plain rices.

Of course, Padma is no novice when it comes to enjoying international foods. Just last fall she opened up about how travel has enhanced her palate.

"Travel taught me to understand spice and flavor," she shared. "Say you want to incorporate a hit of citrus into a soup or salad: You can use a dried Omani lime, or a preserved lemon from Morocco, or a kaffir lime leaf from Thailand. All are very distinct, very memorable flavors."

And, yes, that means she's traveled some great distances just to savor some unusual flavors.

"I never want to eat at the hotel. I always prefer to go to some crazy market," she added. "And there are few things I like more than pulling off the road because I see somebody barbecuing out of the back of a truck."

[Source: L.A Times]