Jambalaya
Mairlyn Smith says this recipe was inspired by one she learned at a cooking class in New Orleans taught by the legendary Miss Poppy Tooker. After much experimenting, she says she ended up with a main dish that tastes fabulous but is admittedly not an authentic jambalaya. She says you really need to visit Louisiana for that.
Makes 8 cups
(one serving = 1 1/2 cups)
4 large cloves garlic
2 hot Italian turkey or chorizo sausages (about 10 oz)
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice
2 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Mince the garlic and set aside. Heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Wash your hands. Squeeze the sausage meat out of its casings and into the pot. Wash your hands again. Cook the sausage meat until browned, 3 to 5 minutes, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon as it cooks.
Add the onion, and sauté until the onion starts turning a light golden colour, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, both peppers and garlic, and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add the rice, thyme, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the rice is well coated and the spices smell fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and broth, making sure you scrape up all the little browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Aside from adding fabulous flavour, this will prevent the rice from sticking while it's cooking.
Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until the rice is tender, 55 to 60 minutes.
Using a rice paddle or a flat spoon, scoop the rice from the bottom of the saucepan to the top to redistribute the moister rice at the bottom. I do 4 scooping turns; this way all the grains will have the same fluffy consistency. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. (Store any leftovers in a resealable container in the fridge for up to 4 days.)
Per serving: 318 calories, 6.7 g total fat, 2.1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 512 mg sodium, 55.6 g carbohydrate, 6 g fibre, 8.3 g sugars, 16 g protein
