Dee's Jambalaya (p2)

It was one of those days when ya go to the fridge and find a lot of things that need to be cooked up, but ya just don't know what ya want to do with them....that's what I was thinking in the kitchen last night. I've never made a jambalaya before but felt I had the ingredients to make a good one, and I figured I'd give it a try. The recipe idea is one I pulled off of the South Beach forum. Someone had adapted theirs from a recipe on cookinglight.com and I adapted it a bit further for my needs, taste and ingredients. It tasted SO good and has so much flavor and texture that I was very pleased and know we'll have it again in the future!

Dee's Jambalaya (p2)

1 lb (Hillshire Farm) smoked turkey sausage, medium diced
2 c medium to small precooked shrimp (with tail and shell)
2 large chicken or turkey breasts (boneless and skinless)
2 bell peppers (one green and one red), diced
5 to 6 celery stalks, chopped
1 to 2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 1/2 t finely chopped jalapeño pepper
4 c fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 c brown rice (Success brand)
Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning 1/2 T dried oregano
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t ground red pepper
1 1/2 t garlic, minced (jar) 2 c low sugar tomato sauce
1 t dried basil
2 bay leaves
1 t salt (or more to taste) olive oil

In a Large stock pot add: tomato sauce, chicken broth, all the seasonings expect the creole, and the chopped jalapeno pepper. Set to medium low heat and add other ingredients as they are ready.

Season both sides of chicken breasts with Creole seasoning and place in a large skillet along with about 1 T of olive oil. Cook the chicken well on one side and flip over. As chicken is almost done on other side, dice up the Turkey sausage and toss around the chicken in the skillet. I added about a 1/3 c of water and continued cooking.

Meanwhile dice up the veggies and de-shell and or remove the tail off of the shrimp and set aside.

When the chicken is browned well on both sides place it on a carving plate and continue to stir sausage until its lightly browned. Add the sausage and any pan drippings to the stock pot. (do not wipe or clean the skillet)

Dice chicken and add to the stock pot ( or if need be, cook a little longer in the skillet with a little more water until cooked).

Add 1 to 2 T of olive oil and toss in all the diced veggies and season with salt. Saute this for approximately 5 mins or just until soften but not overly done. (I liked the texture of the veggies not overly cooked). When veggies are done add to the stock pot.

Still in the same skillet (I never wiped mine clean from one ingredient to the next to keep the flavor going) toss in the shrimp with about 1 to 2 tsp of olive oil and a little creole seasoning, stir and heat slightly to mix the seasoning (about 3 to 5 min). When finished add this to the stock pot and stir well.

Let all the ingredients simmer on medium heat with lid. Stir now and again. After about 20 to 30 min add in Success brow rice, place lid back on and turn off heat. The rice will soak up the juice and so if you like more liquid you may add a little more chicken broth and tomato sauce, but I found this to be just fine as is. When rice is cooked through serve and ENJOY!!!