Thursday, January 8, 2009

Crockpot Cooking

Trying to keep my financial resolutions, I decided to start cooking meals to take to work again. Also, I love to cook and love to share my successes, and failures, with the blogging community.

Last night at 11pm I decided to throw off my warm blankets, and put something in the crock pot. I had been looking at this great recipe for Jambalaya, and although I wouldn't be putting it over rice, I thought that the flavors would go nicely together. Thanks to the vegetables, it's also quite healthy.

FYI - I was back in bed by 11:20pm. Gotta love that.

Crock pot Jambalaya
Posted by Dewey on the CookingLight Bulletin Board

12 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, 1/2" cubes (used 1lb. turkey legs)
2 green peppers, chopped (used 16 oz. frozen pepper blend and 2 zucchini)
1 medium onion, chopped (omitted)
2 stalks celery, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced (used pureed garlic)
14 1/2 ounces whole tomatoes, canned
1/3 cup tomato paste (subbed ketchup)
14 1/2 ounces fat-free beef broth, canned (subbed ½ water and ½ red wine)
1 Tbl dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp dried basil & 1/2 tsp dried oregano (subbed Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle)
1 tsp Tabasco sauce (used ½ TSP)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (used ½ TSP)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lb low-fat smoked sausage (omitted)
3 cups cooked brown rice


Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Add all ingredients except sausage and rice to Crock-Pot. Cover; cook on Low 8 to 10 hours (High: 3 to 4 hours). Add sausage last hour of cooking. If you want to include shrimp, add last 15 minutes of cooking. Stir in rice when ready to serve. 6 servings (big servings!)



This was REALLY good! Of course, I doubt it tastes anything like a real jambalaya (some of that is due to my changes) but it is a good comforting, healthy meal loaded with tons of vegetables!

By the way, I am submitting this for Gayle's recipe swap at http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/

13 comments:

Kim said...

Yum! I make a mean Jambalaya. I also add shrimp to mine.

Sassy Britches said...

Seriously impressed. I would never have the nerve to do all the substituting! Maybe that comes after years of successful cooking so you know it's okay to branch out?

DarcyLee said...

I cook the same way as you do, it seems. I decide I want a certain kind of dish and use what I have in the pantry and refrigerator to make the recipe, changing it as I want. It usually turns out well, even though I don't always follow the recipe to a "T". And, using the crockpot and slow cooking a stew like that makes it taste even better.

Anonymous said...

Hey, it looks really fantastic. And I love Cooking Light and its readers. As I have a long subscription with them. Definitely gonna try this recipe. Especially cuz I love my veggies!

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

Sassy - I confess I had to look up the tomato paste/ketchup substitution to make sure it was ok to use ;)

Jo - Does this look/sound at all like an authentic Jambalaya? And I think that next time I will add shrimp and sausage :)

Darcy, Money Funk - Welcome. I hope you like my blog and will stay.

Mommy In Pink said...

I love cooking in the crock...it's so easy and I hate to cook...so it works out great for me!

Anonymous said...

The turkey legs sound like an interesting substitution! I don't eat a lot of turkey, and it's usually ground when I do, but I may have to try that.

Opus #6 said...

Oooo, yummy! I love the crock pot!

Unknown said...

mmmmmmmmmm Jambalaya... yummy... it looks great! So easy and quick to throw together for hopefully a couple of days of good meals

Julie from JulieChats said...

Sounds yummy! I've been looking for more crock pot recipes too. You've inspired me to get started!

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

mommustwrite - Turkey legs are usually on sale at Whole food. These were $1.19/lb. I but a couple of lb.s and freze in 1 lb. incements.

Joanne said...

That looks good! I may have to ask my husband to make that for us -he does most of the cooking.

PS : I found your blog through comment club at MBC!!!
Here's my blog: http://simply-saving.com

Keri said...

Crock pot cooking... gotta love the simplicity of it!