“Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.” ~ Mitch Hedberg
Jambalaya
Years ago, my husband was on a business trip to New Orleans. It was the first time he had visited the city, and he tried jambalaya. He loved it so much that he brought home a well-known box mix for me to make jambalaya at home. For a long time, this was our go to mix.
Several years later, I saw a recipe for jambalaya in Cooking Light. It was easy to make, it was delicious and it had far less sodium than the box mix.
The wonderful thing about jambalaya is that you can make it your own. For this post I used shrimp, but you can also use chicken or sausage or a combination of all three.
For the shrimp jambalaya, peel and devein the shrimp and set aside.
In a 5 quart Dutch oven, place the olive oil and stir in the flour. Cook the flour, on medium high heat, for 1-2 minutes until the flour starts to brown.
Add the onion, garlic, celery, green pepper and ham. Sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Add the chicken stock, parsley, thyme, salt, basil, black pepper, cayenne pepper and tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir in the rice. Cover and reduce the heat to simmer. Cook until the rice is tender, which for brown rice is about 40 minutes. Add the shrimp, cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or just until the shrimp turn pink and are no longer translucent. NOTE: Shrimp will turn tough and rubbery if overcooked. Once you add them to the jambalaya, watch them carefully.
This recipe was adapted from one in Cooking Light magazine.
Shrimp Jambalaya
By Published: April 2, 2014
- Yield: 4 Servings
- Prep: 30 mins
- Cook: 40 mins
- Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
"Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg Jambalaya Years ago, my husband …
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp, unpeeled
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup green pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 pound ham, diced I used no nitrite ham
- 2 1/2 cups low salt chicken stock
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1 14 1/2 ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup brown rice
Instructions
- For the shrimp jambalaya, peel and devein the shrimp and set aside.
- In a 5 quart Dutch oven, place the olive oil and stir in the flour. Cook the flour, on medium high heat, for 1-2 minutes until the flour starts to brown.
- Add the onion, garlic, celery, green pepper and ham. Sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the chicken stock, parsley, thyme, salt, basil, black pepper, cayenne pepper and tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir in the rice. Cover and reduce the heat to simmer. Cook until the rice is tender, which for brown rice is about 40 minutes. Add the shrimp, cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or just until the shrimp turn pink and are no longer translucent. NOTE: Shrimp will turn tough and rubbery if overcooked. Once you add them to the jambalaya, watch them carefully.
- Enjoy!!
