I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans. I’m intrigued by the cuisine, and a little afraid of it.
At the aromatic root of savory Cajun and Creole cooking is the holy trinity: a sauté of chopped onion, celery, and green pepper. You can find the trinity in gumbo, maque choux, étouffée, dirty rice, jambalaya, and I totally forgot what I was talking about.
But I’m on the holy trinity do-not-call list because I’m allergic to bell peppers.
Since I’m pretty sure omitting the green peppers from jambalaya will get me kicked out of the foodies club anyway, I decided to further bastardize the original recipe and make it a tad bit healthier. In the interest of my cholesterol level (and throwing convention and authenticity out the window), I used turkey kielbasa in place of the pork sausage.
And did I miss the green peppers? Um, no. Why would I miss food that makes me feel like crap? The turkey kielbasa was just as juicy and lush as smoked sausage should be. Really, it was a delicious dish – rich and flavorful, filling, and just spicy enough without blowing your head off.
I took it for lunch for a week and it reheated just right in the microwave. There was some serious lunch envy in the cafeteria that week.
Continue reading for the Chicken and Smoked Sausage Jambalaya recipe