Cajun night

Chicken and kielbasa jambalaya

Let me start by clarifying that this is not a "true" jambalaya recipe. More of a "cajun-y" rice and meat dish. I'm going to call it jambalaya since I'm not Cajun and don't know the difference! Tip on this one. If you're making it for kids, pull out some meat and rice before hitting it with the cajun spice!

Where this recipe came from
I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that before Brett and I got married I regularly (read: once every few weeks) made the jambalaya in the box. I don't care what anyone says...that stuff is good! Eventually I decided I could make it myself and it really wasn't that hard.

Making the jambalaya
This is easy to make. Somewhere over time, I discovered that if I cooked the rice and meat separately, the rice cooked faster. Particularly if you are using brown rice. Also, this can be made with whatever combo of meat, seafood or veggies you like. I usually make this with kielbasa and shrimp, but didn't have any.

The recipe
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium size onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 package chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 turkey kielbasa, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can diced tomato's (I use the jalapeno ones for extra heat)
1-2 tbsp cajun seasoning (depending on how hot you like it)
Tabasco to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper (make sure the cajun seasoning you are using doesn't have salt before you add any! Mine does and I didn't realize this the last time I made it)

Heat chicken stock in small saucepan over high heat, bring to boil. Once boiling, add rice and cook until tender (about 40 minutes for brown rice).

Meanwhile, heat oil over med heat in large skillet. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook until veggies are tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and kielbasa. Cook until chicken is cooked through.

Add Worcestershire sauce, cooked rice, tomatos (I cuisinart my tomatos, because Brett doesn't like "big chunks". You could go either way) and cajun seasoning, Tabasco, salt and pepper.

Let cook for 10 minutes or so until some of the "wet" cooks out.

Check for seasoning and serve topped with cheese (pretty sure the cheese part isn't what you would call "classic cajun" but when is adding cheese ever bad?)