Jammin-balaya
Another Friday night at the River House. Clooney is well-worn after a day of playing with his friend, River, the mini poodle and paddle boarding. We decided to stay in and I figured it was a good opportunity to try a new recipe. Nick has always loved jambalaya. I've known this since the first time I met his family. He and his brother both ordered the same meal, jambalaya. I have attempted to make it once when we first started dating but made it in the crock pot and botched the water to rice proportion. Time heals all wounds and I figured it was the correct time to trial this recipe again.
It was a hit.
Really, this one received the "add it to the rotation" stamp of approval. For those that do not know, "add it to the rotation" is the highest stamp of approval by my picky eater husband. In addition, the low pro version was absolutely delic! I am so happy to find a recipe with some flavor variation.
Generally, cooking two separate, but similar, meals is easiest if I use the same veggie base. I started this recipe the same and threw all the veggies with olive oil, salt, and pepper into my favorite All Clad d5 dutch oven. The chopped, fresh parsley makes all the difference! You can't have enough of this stuff but make sure to save enough to garnish with after.
I let them cook up on medium until the onions were translucent. Meanwhile, I was defrosting the raw shrimp and slicing the sausage. I prefer to cook with chicken sausage. Most brands are organic and it is quite less fatty than pork sausage. It also comes precooked. For me, this is ideal. It makes for quick preparation and sautés up nicely for breakfast, lunch, and most dinners I prepare. I put the shrimp, sausage and a few scoops of veggies (always try to sneak a moderate amount into Nick's dish hehe) into a sauce pan. Then, on top of both dishes you throw in the tomatoes. I tend to like chunky so I used both sauce and diced tomatoes. Nick does not and I only use sauce in his dishes. Don't mess with tomato paste. Some recipes call for paste and I have found it is super easy just to cook down the sauce if needed by tilting the lid so steam can be released. After, that the spicing begins. Dump all the spices on top then mix.
Then, add the desired rice. When I make low pro rice dishes I use Cambrooke's Short Grain Rice. It mixes in perfectly to one-pot dishes and I don't usually tell the difference. Sometimes I cut it with half cauliflower rice, which is so yummy! To help cook the rices I add fluid. For the low pro dish I would add water and Cambrooke's Chicken Consumme, which is nice and salty. I would add chicken broth to the traditional meal. I don't know about you guys but I never cook with chicken broth for myself. Exhibit A below.
Now, cover, cook, and let the magic happen! Serve with chopped, fresh parsley. Yum, yum!
Low pro recipe:
3/4- 1 cup Cambrooke short grain rice (depending on the rice to vegetable ratio you prefer)
1/4 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted but does not matter)
1 cup chopped parsely
1/2 chopped zucchini
1/2 chopped onion (I used vidalia but another may have stronger flavor)
1/2 chopped celery
1/2 chopped peppers of any kind, I used yellow, red, and green for lots of color
1 tsp Smoked paprika
1 tbsp Cambrooke chicken consumme
Salt, pepper to taste
1 tbsp seafood magic seasoning blend
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
Olive oil to sauté veggies
Cayenne if you like it spicy!
Protein recipe linked below. Courtesy of "Gluten Free with LB" blog.
http://glutenfreewithlb.com/sausage-chicken-cajun-jambalaya-gluten-free/
However, I substituted shrimp for the chicken but depends what you are up for :)