Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya

Weekends are great for me... when I don't need to be at school I generally work at home which allows me to work while taking frequent breaks to run into the kitchen to make dishes that take slightly longer than I have time for during the week.

Tonight, I decided to make jambalaya as I had some veggies that needed to be used up before they went bad and because the beans I was cooking weren't going to be ready in time for tonight. (I'll be using them tomorrow.) So I planned ahead a little and thawed some Italian turkey sausage and a HUGE chicken breast in preparation for tonight's dinner.

This isn't a completely traditional jambalaya but it's tasty nonetheless. I rarely have any sausage other than Italian on hand so I've just taken to using it even when a different sausage might be more traditional. This makes a nice big pot of food so Jeremy and I get leftovers for a few meals. It's nice and spicy but you can cut back on the spice by eliminating some of the cayenne and crushed red pepper or changing the type of sausage you use. Depending on the sausage used, it might be necessary to drain the rendered fat if it's excessive... but since my turkey sausage is relatively lean, it wasn't necessary in this recipe.

I didn't add any extra salt to this dish at all. After looking at the nutrition labels on the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste, I figured we probably didn't need any added. I always use low sodium stocks but even those have quite a bit of salt in them. From now on I'm going to try to watch how much total sodium I have in a dish and try to season accordingly... and try to buy low or no sodium tomatoes. It's amazing how much sodium some of these things contain... and they don't even taste salty!

Recipe:
1 lb. hot Italian turkey sausage links (you can certainly substitute other sausages)
1-2 chicken breasts (depending on size), cut into bite-sized pieces
2 bell peppers, diced
5 stalks celery, diced
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
3 tbs. tomato paste
3 tbs. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. rosemary, minced (this I actually had fresh... but dried would work too)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 tbs. flat leaf parsley, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flake
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 c. rice
4 c. chicken stock

1. Heat a dutch oven or large stew pot over medium high heat. Add one tbs olive oil. Brown sausage on all sides. When sausage is almost finished cooking, add chicken. Continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.  Remove from pan and wrap in foil to keep warm.
2. Add bell pepper, celery, onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Saute for 5-6 minutes until beginning to soften.
3. Add tomato paste and mix to incorporate thoroughly. Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes being careful not to burn the tomato paste.
4. Add all the spices and herbs except the parsley.
5. Slice the sausage into bite-sized pieces. Add sausage and chicken back to the pot with any juices in the foil.
6. Add rice and stir to incorporate rice throughout the pot.
7. Add diced tomatoes, parsley, and chicken stock.
8. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 18-20 minutes until all the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed. (If the rice isn't completely soft, add extra chicken stock or water as needed. I added an extra cup of water but it varies every time I make this.)