Jambalaya
Jambalaya
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2-4 stalks celery, small dice
3 cloves minced garlic
1 onion, small dice
1 green pepper, medium dice
3 portabella caps, medium dice
1 batch andouille carrots, or 4 large carrots, sliced in ¼ inch thick rounds
2 cups brown rice
28 oz canned diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp celery seed
¼ tsp cayenne
½ tsp onion powder
Directions
Do your mis en place with the produce and gird your loins. This one’s deliciously simple.
Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Once warm, add green pepper, onion and garlic. Sauté for about 10 minutes or so, until they’re soft and the onion is pretty translucent.
Add the portabella mushrooms and andouille carrots. Let cook for a few minutes.
Toss in the 2 cups of rice and mix well. Let cook, stirring occasionally, to let the rice toast a bit and absorb the essence of the veg.
Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce, water and spices. Bring to a boil.
Once you’ve reached a boil, lower the heat to simmer for 30-45 minutes until the rice is cooked. At this point, it’s good to taste the broth and see if you need to adjust the seasonings to be more your taste. Just remember, sometimes sticking with less salt is better because you’re really looking for acid. And in this dish, a powerful acid can come in the form of hot sauce atop a fat dish of the final product.
Brown rice can retain a little chewier texture than white, so be careful not to super overcook it looking for too soft a texture. Al dente is good. Crunchy bad.
Serve a heaping bowl with your favorite vinegary hot sauce. I like Louisiana Hot Sauce or Tabasco for this dish.
