Faux Gumbo

I know NOLA, Southern people, ya’ll. It’s not gumbo. There’s no roux. I’m sorry. It’s another Weight Watchers recipe.

God…I need to bake something. With a lot of butter in it. Soon. Or something with caramel. Salted caramel. Like brownies. Drizzled with smooth, salted caramel. Sprinkled with the tiniest bits of flaky, white…*drool*

Sorry! Sorry! I’m back. Faux gumbo. Even The BF liked this one…he has no clue what he’s eating really. I just make this stuff, it happens to be healthy and he’s happy at the end of the night. So if you aren’t a stickler for completely authentic gumbo, you probably won’t mind this. If you are a stickler, like I am about my Mexican food, then, carry on! Act like you never saw this post.

Maybe we’ll just call it Chicken, Shrimp and Kielbasa with Rice in Tomatoes. How about that? :)

Enjoy!

Faux Gumbo

Adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

4tsp margarine or butter

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

6 scallions, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

14.5oz can of crushed tomatoes

2c low-sodium chicken broth

1/2tsp thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

1/4tsp cayenne pepper

1/2c long-grain rice

1/2lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2inch pieces

2inches of thinly sliced Kielbasa.

In a large nonstick saucepan, melt the butter. Saute the bell peppers, celery, scallions and garlic until softened, about five minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, thyme, bay leafe and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, 15 minutes.

Stir in the rice and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. add the shrimp, chicken and kielbasa; simmer, covered until the shrimp is pink, the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender, about 5 minutes longer. Discard the bay leaf before you serve.