Chicken Jambalaya

Jambalaya. Say it with me now! Jam-ba-lay-a. It's just a fun word to say. And yes, I am a nerd. Thanks for asking.


I was kinda thinking this recipe wouldn't turn out very well because they never really do for me. But I tried it anyways. It turned out delicious AND I even took a bunch of pictures so I can walk you through some steps. You're welcome.



First I seasoned some chicken with salt and pepper and grilled it up. Then cut it into chunks. I used salt and pepper, you can use whatever you like. Also, cook the chicken however you like. The grill is the most convenient for me.



While the chicken was on the grill, I diced up some turkey summer sausage (Oscar Mayer makes one that I think is just yummy).



I also diced up one large onion, one green bell pepper, and a big stalk of celery. This is referred to as the "holy trinity" in Cajun cooking. If you switch out the pepper for some carrot and you want to be all fancy and impress your friends, you can call that a "mire poix" (pronounce it 'meer pwa').



I sprayed a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and cooked up the sausage over high heat. Then I added the trinity and sauteed that until tender. Turn down the heat and add some seasonings (thyme, cayenne, salt, pepper) and minced garlic. I actually used chile powder instead of cayenne pepper and sage instead of thyme. I didn't have what was called for so I winged (a word?) it. Yeah, I'm brave like that. Probably why I have so many disasters... Let that cook up a bit, stirring it often because you don't want to burn the garlic. If you burn the garlic it'll make the whole dish taste kinda icky. And that goes for all food, not just this. Then you're gonna add in the chicken, broth, tomatoes, and a cup of white rice. Yes, those are off brand tomatoes. And that's instant rice. Stop judging me.




Then you just bring it up to a simmer, cover it, and let it cook for about 20 minutes. It's so very tasty. I even ate the chicken out of it. I usually pick out the chicken because I am not a huge fan. But it was good in this. The husband hasn't tried it yet because he had a work thing this evening. But he's on his way home now to check it out.

Here's the recipe. It's from Weight Watchers.

Chicken Jambalaya


POINTS® Value: 7
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 25 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy


Ingredients

1 spray(s) cooking spray
2 1/2 oz raw turkey sausage, chopped
1 large onion(s), chopped
1 medium celery, stalk, chopped
1 small green pepper(s), chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
2 medium chicken breast, cooked, skinless, cubed (about 2 cups)
28 oz canned tomatoes, whole, plum, peeled with juice
2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth
1 cup(s) uncooked white rice, long-grain

Instructions
Coat a large, nonstick saucepan with cooking spray. Over high heat, sauté sausage until crispy on edges. Add onion, celery and green pepper; sauté until tender.

Reduce heat and stir in cayenne, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic; sauté until garlic is fragrant.

Stir in chicken, tomatoes, broth and rice. Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.