Jambalaya

Pregnancy is weird.  I always heard that you crave certain strange foods while you are pregnant, like pickles and ice cream...yuck.  I keep waiting for the food cravings to kick in, but it seems like I am still in the "food aversion" stage of this.  Sadly this means my cooking has been cut way back, as in I don't really cook dinner that much anymore.  My poor husband has been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches most nights for dinner.

This weekend I was napping and started thinking about Jambalaya for some strange reason.  I woke up from my nap and went straight to the store for the ingredients before I decided to have an aversion to this idea...haha...I like to move on my ideas very quickly!  This recipe was actually pretty easy and turned out delicious!  It makes enough for 6-8 people for dinner.  You could also make it meatless and omit the chicken and sausage, use vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth, and add shrimp or black beans at the end.

Jambalaya

• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. sausage, sliced into rounds
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 4-5 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
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• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped 
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
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• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 (14 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked white jasmine or brown rice*
• 1 Tbsp. Cajun or Creole seasoning 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
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• (optional) 2 cup sliced okra

In large soup/stock pot heat the olive oil.  Add the sausage and brown 1-2 minutes.  Then add the chicken and cook 2-3 minutes until no longer pink.  Remove sausage and chicken from pan, leaving the fat in the pan.  

Add the chopped onions, peppers, celery and garlic to the pan.  Saute 5-7 minutes over medium high heat.  Add the meat back into the pan.  Add the chicken stock, canned tomatoes, rice and seasonings.  Stir to combine.  Cover with lid and cook over medium/low heat 30-40 minutes until rice is tender.  Stir every 5-8 minutes to ensure rice isn't sticking to the bottom and burning.  If your rice is not cooked through and the liquid is evaporated add some more water until rice is cooked.

Once rice is cooked add the okra, stir, and cook 5-10 minutes until okra is tender.  

* Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice, and sometimes requires more liquid too...just keep an eye on it.

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