Easy Cajun Jambalaya

For as many years as I lived in the south (oh... about 9 or so years) I don't think I have ever had jambalaya. Okay, so maybe I didn't live all that far south, but I still find it weird that I have never eaten this dish, regardless of my state of residence. If you had asked me what all was in a jambalaya I really couldn't have told you. Rice? Beans? Shrimp? Right. Wrong. Depends.

While searching around the internet for some new recipe ideas, I happened upon this Easy Cajun Jambalaya. Easy? Sounds good to me. A quick scan of the ingredient list and reviews showed this recipe to have some promise. And one paragraph for directions? Count me in.

Um, yeah. Sooo tasty. I think how good this dish was going to be hit me when I walked by during the rice cooking stage -- all I could smell was the kielbasa and banana pepper melding with the garlic and cayenne pepper. And I started drooling. Maybe a little bit. It's been a while since a meal made me do that. I'm pretty sure we each gained 5 pounds after that meal, and we were fighting for leftovers for the next couple of days as well. Yes, I did in fact get the sad look from Adam when he found out I ate some of the leftovers for lunch the following day. He had evil plans to keep it all for himself. Yeah, nice try on that one.

Easy Cajun Jambalaya

Adapted from: Allrecipes.com

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
8 ounces kielbasa, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 banana pepper, diced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups uncooked white (long grain) rice
4 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Sauté chicken and kielbasa until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and next six ingredients (through black pepper). Cook 5 minutes, or until onion is tender and translucent. Add rice. Stir in chicken broth and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce. Remove bay leaves prior to serving.

Serves: 6

Not only is this dish super easy to throw together, but it only uses one dish to get it all done (well, and a cutting board). That's my kind of cooking.

The original recipe calls for bell peppers, but we all know how Adam feels about those -- they had to go. This is not supposed to be a super spicy dish, so I decided to replace the bell peppers with a banana pepper to kick up the heat a little bit. It also called for celery, but, ew. No thanks. Skipped that one. This is what I love about cooking at home... I get what I want. :)

Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 443	Calories from fat 112
% Daily Value
Total Fat 12.4g	19%
Saturated Fat 3.7g	19%
Cholesterol 60mg	20%
Sodium 1216mg	51%
Total Carbs 56.1g	19%
Dietary Fiber 1.7g	7%
Sugars 2.6g
Protein 24.2g
Vitamin A 14%	Vitamin C 56%
Calcium 4%	Iron 24%