Jammin' Jambalaya

Hi folks!  I know.  I know.  Its been a little while since I've blogged.  Forgive me.  There's been A LOT going on.  But I'm back and I thought I'd post a little recipe I tried for the first time tonight.  Now, just to give you a little background, when I told the hubby this morning that I was gonna try a jambalaya tonight he wasn't particularly thrilled.  He was automatically thinking SPICY.  And my sweet hubby DOES NOT like spicy.  But I had already thought of that.  This recipe has been tamed.  But if you, like me, can't get enough heat, you can always add more chili powder, throw in some crushed red pepper, or even throw in a chopped up jalapeno.  Or take a walk on the wild side & throw in all three!
Back to the recipe -
This is a fairly simple recipe - made especially easy by the fact that you can bake & shred the chicken, slice up the sausage, and dice up the onions & bell pepper all in advance.
So here's how it goes:
First, heat up 2 teaspoons of Olive Oil over medium-high in a large pot & brown the sausage for 5 minutes.  I used my dutch oven.  Isn't it pretty?  My husband got it for me a couple of years ago for my birthday!  :)

Next, add 1-2 chopped onions (I used 2, but they were on the small side), 1/2 cup of chopped bell pepper (I used a combo of green and red bell pepper.  I always buy them when they're on sale and then I dice some and slice some & put them in the freezer.  It makes things a lot easier!), and 1 clove of minced garlic.

Mix that all together, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 12 minutes, or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.

Next, add 1 & 1/2 cups of rice and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. (Now, if you're smart, you'll rinse your rice for about 5 minutes before you add it.  That will help your rice to stay nice and fluffy when it cooks, instead of mushy and sticky.  I, however, was not so smart.  I forgot to rinse my rice first.  But, then again, my baby stole most of my brain cells, so I have an excuse at least.)

Now, once you've cooked the rice for 2 minutes, add 2 & 3/4 cups of chicken broth, 2 tsp paprika, & 1/2 tsp thyme.  (I also added 1/4 tsp of chili powder.  But, seriously, this wasn't spicy AT ALL.  So if you like spice, you'll probably wanna add more.) Bring this all to a boil.

(Its startin' to look yummy, isn't it!)

Once it begins to boil, cover the pot, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Don't peek!  I know its hard, but that rice has gotta cook.  So, seriously, DON'T PEEK!

(Here's another pic of my beautiful dutch oven.  Just because.)

Now, once the rice is finished cooking, add 1 can of diced tomatoes (with the juice). (If you wanna, you can add tomatoes with chiles, but I just used plain diced tomatoes.)

Then add the shredded chicken.

Mix everything together and let it heat through until the liquid is absorbed (about 5-10 minutes).  We only waited about 3 minutes.  We were hungry. (But there really wasn't much liquid from the tomatoes, so it was fine.)

And, there you have it.  Jambalaya!  Now, I know some of you are thinking, "Um, isn't there supposed to be shrimp in jambalaya too?"  Yes.  You're right.  But I don't care.  I don't eat shrimp.  If you wanna add some, be my guest!  Just add some precooked shrimp at the end with the chicken & let it all heat through.

Look at this yummy goodness!

I served mine with a wedge of sweet cornbread.

And, there you go.  And here I go - into the kitchen to get a second helping - because all these pics are makin' me hungry again!