Flavor Filled Jambalaya Makes a Great Weeknight Meal

Jambalaya is an easy one dish meal that can be adjusted to your family’s tastes and cooks in about 30 minutes. even though the list of ingredients may seem long and intimidating,  is another weeknight fast recipe that is nothing more than chop, saute and simmer.

I know I just posted Shrimp Creole last week, but as I mentioned in that post, we have loved Louisiana cuisine for a long time in my family.

The version below is more vegetables than meat. That won’t fly in my house, so I add more meat (like some of the shrimp leftover from making the Shrimp Creole) and cut back on the vegetables. Or omit them and serve them on the side for me and M so J won’t give it “the big snub”.

That’s the great thing about this recipe, make it to suit your eaters taste. I don’t go too heavy on the spices for them, but add more for mine. If you have leftover chicken or pork in the fridge, chop ’em up and toss ’em in. Let the recipe serve as a starting point for your dish, and mix and match what you want or have.

This is technically a Cajun dish. If you want to make it more Creole you can add some chopped tomatoes in with the broth. Cajun recipes generally developed out side of New Orleans in the surrounding bayou areas and have a more French influence (from the French Canadian Acadians that migrated to the area) where as Creole recipes developed in and around New Orleans and have a wider range of influences including Caribbean and African. Cajun recipes usually don’t use tomatoes, but Creole ones do extensively. So, now you know.

I prefer the Cajun “brown” version below to Creole “red”, but it is a matter of personal preference – eat what you like.

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Jambalaya

Jambalaya is an easy flavorful one pot meal loaded with Cajun flavor and plenty of meat and vegetables.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter margarine, or oil
• 2 medium onions diced
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 2 medium green bell peppers diced
• 1 cup celery
• 6 ounce ham diced
• 6 ounce smoked sausage such as Andouille or Kielbasa diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• 4 cups chicken or beef stock

Instructions

1. Heat butter, margarine or oil in skillet. Sauté onion, garlic, green pepper and celery. Add ham, sausage and spices. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Add rice and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until rice is tender (about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally.
3. Serve hot. Put a bottle of Tabasco or other Louisiana hot sauce on the table and let diners help themselves.

Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey