This is a wonderfully hearty dish for this time of year, even the colours remind me of autumn!
It’s a one pot dish, easy to adjust the flavourings to suit the whole family and freezes well, what more could you ask for!
The photos below were made for 6 people. My pan just about handled this amount so I would recommend following the rough amounts so you have enough for leftovers (such a great way of saving money).
I used
spoon of coconut oil
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
5 peppers, chopped into chunks
a mugful of frozen peas
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato puree
handful of chopped chorizo
4 large chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
1 and 1/3 mugs of brown rice
2 handfuls of frozen prawns
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 1 pint of water
1 tbp smoked paprika
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Soften the garlic and onion in the oil, being careful to over brown them. Add in the chopped peppers and cook for 5 mins. Add in the chicken breasts, and the spices. Cook until the chicken is cooked through. Add in the chorizo and the rice (uncooked).
Pour in the dissolved stock cube, canned tomatoes and tomato puree cover and simmer until the rice is almost cooked. Be careful as brown rice doesn’t take as long as white rice. Add more water as it cooks if you need it. If there is too much liquid, uncover for the liquid to evaporate.
Add in the frozen peas and prawns, cook for a further 5 mins and taste to test the spices. You may need to add some salt, but the stock and chorizo might be enough. Definitely add black pepper though, it need that.
I try and keep the chorizo to a minimum as it isn’t really all that healthy, but the dish does need some of it. You can buy specific cajun seasoning for jambalaya, but to be honest it contains things that you will probably already have in your spice rack. If you have to buy the spices new, it’s still worth buying them separately as you will easily use them in other recipes, but cajun seasoning is quite specific. Cayenne pepper is very strong, so be careful not to use too much too soon, remember you can always add more in but can’t take it out if it’s too spicy!
You can adjust the veggie too, try adding carrots, green beans or mushrooms. Just remember to make sure there is enough for at least 2 portions of vegetables per portion.
So there you are, it takes about 30 mins to prep and cook. A really easy, family meal. Let me know if you make it and how it goes!
