Jambalaya

When I lost my job in January and had to cut back on expenses, our food budget went on the chopping block. I had to get creative, if I was going to keep buying organic produce, beef from a small sustainable farm, and local free-range chickens. 

I quickly realized:

1. I have a lot more food than I thought.
2. I prepare a lot more food than we can eat.
3. We probably eat more than we should anyway.

Today’s story has to do with Item 1. We have Costco quantities of canned green beans. A dozen cans of low-cal soup left over from two diets ago. Chicken broth by the gallon because if I’m going to pay for free-range chickens, I am using every single part of those expensive birds.

Last week I found rice in the freezer where I had stored it after some long-ago sale. I also had a couple of cans of Healthy Request Soup “Maryland Crab” which I really didn’t care for. I had refrigerator leftovers: some roasted chicken, a couple of green peppers I had roasted because they were about to go bad. I was inspired to make Jambalaya.

When I told my husband what I was making, he dashed to the bookshelf and pulled down Charles Kuralt’s “ America.” In the New Orleans chapter, he learns about Jambalaya - rice, trinity, and "whatever you've got!.” I rustled up some celery and onions and was on my way.

Here are the ingredients:

Uncle Ben’s boil-in-bag Brown Rice
Zatarain’s Red Beans & Rice
2 cans Special Harvest Maryland Crab soup
About a cup of roasted chicken, cut into cubes
2 roasted peppers
Onion
Celery

I prepared the Red Beans & Rice according to the package directions. Did the same with the Brown Rice, and then mixed them together.

I cooked the celery and onion in a little olive oil, then added the chopped roasted pepper. I used a small enamel cast iron pot and let everything simmer while I prepared the soup.

I made a roux with butter and flour in a soup pot, then added the chicken and the two cans of soup. Tossed in the cooked vegetables and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

The crab soup gave the dish a good seafood flavor, and with the added chicken, it was quite hearty. I planned to mix the rice into the stew, but decided to serve it separately and I think that turned out better.

I heated up some French bread that went stale over Christmas and I had put in the freezer. Ran a little water over it, wrapped in foil and baked. It went well with the Jambalaya and was a great snowy day meal.

We still had lots of leftovers, which I have squirreled away in serving-size containers in the freezer. Item 2 still needs some work.