Jumbalaya Recipe

This is one of our favorites now. The original recipe called for shrimp instead of cod, but Allen is allergic to shrimp. A short discussion with the lady at the fish counted pointed us toward the cod, and we loved it. Use shrimp instead or leave the cod out if you aren’t in the mood for the seafood, but it does add a nice flavor without being overly fishy. We usually double the recipe and add cod to half. It freezes well, so then we have two different tasting dishes with no added effort. If you don’t have time for all the veggie prep, look in the frozen vegetable section for a bag of frozen diced onions or you might be lucky enough to find the bag of a mix of celery, onion, and green peppers. I prefer the fresh versions, but the frozen will work well, too. Instead of chopping the fresh tomatoes, you can use canned without changing the flavors much. If you don’t normally have bay leaves in your pantry, it’s worth investing in some for this recipe.

Jumbalaya (6 servings)

2 TB vegetable oil
½ lb. andouille or other smoked sausage (Allen prefers the andouille (spicy), but I like the other), chopped
1 ½ C. chopped onion
1 C. chopped celery
¾ C chopped green bell pepper
2/3 C. chopped cooked ham
2 tsp. minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 ½ lbs. chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 C. chicken broth
1 C. tomato sauce
1 ½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp Tobasco sauce
1 tsp. black pepper
3 bay leaves
½ C. chopped green onion
Creole seasoning (we like Tony Cachere’s)
1 lb. cod, cut to bite-sized pieces (optional)

Preheat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, onion, celery, bell pepper, ham, and garlic to pot and sauté about 5 minutes. Add chicken and stir for another minute. Add tomato, broth, tomato sauce, salt, Tobasco, pepper, bay leaves, and green onion. Cook 15 minutes, stirring often. Season to taste with Creole seasoning. Add cod and cook until fish is done (easy to pull apart). Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve over cooked white rice.