“City Girl” Brown City Jambalaya
This classic New Orleans dish is a perfect one-pot recipe for a busy city girl. I’ve taken a less traditional route and cut down the ingredient list, and the calories. Rather than using ham hock, I stick with andouille—while the sausage ups the fat count, all the flavorings in the meat mixture allows me to skip the many jars of spices needed for classic Cajun kick. Brown rice provides great texture and bite, while also upping the fiber factor. Best of all, this dish can be made the night before up until step 3.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces andouille sausage sliced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper cored, seeded and chopped
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 2 medium cloves garlic peeled
- 5 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoons paprika
- One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 cups chicken or seafood stock
- 1 1/2 cup brown rice
- ¾ pound shrimp peeled and deveined
- 4 scallions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed lidded saucepan over high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned on both sides. Remove to a plate. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, scrapping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute. Push the vegetable mixture to the sides of the pan and add the chicken. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until partially browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cayenne, paprika, and 1 teaspoon of salt and toss to combine.
- Pour the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the bay leaf over the meat mixture. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until the rice is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. (You can make it up until this point 1-2 days in advance. Simply reheat with some extra stock, and proceed with the recipe).
- Add the shrimp and half of the scallions to the pot and toss to combine. Cover and cook until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the remaining scallions.