Jambalaya is flavorful rice packed with meat and veggies, and this nontraditional quicker “Cajun” version cooks the rice separately in a savory stock to shorten the cooking time of this dinner that traditionally simmers for at least an hour. Packed with andouille sausage, shrimp, and green beans, this dish is filling and simple to prepare!
I have no right to share a jambalaya recipe with all of you, being that I have never spent more than a weekend in the South. I blame my friend Emma for my attempts at recreating good Southern cuisine.
She’s now calls New Orleans home, but in college she would just dream of its cuisine – gumbos, jambalayas, and other indulgent Southern foods – and play with recipes. This was a godsend for those of us surviving on less cultured cuisine (why yes, I would love a study snack of shrimp and grits!).
In an attempt to recreate the flavors she treated us to with a healthy twist, I used long grain brown rice and add green beans to substitute for some of the traditional trinity of jambalaya vegetables (mostly onion, with some celery and bell pepper). Any variety of meat can be used to make jambalaya, but I prefer loading it up with my favorites – smoked andouille chicken sausages (instead of pork) and lots of shrimp.
While it may not be traditional, or spicy enough, I think you’ll enjoy the hint of Southern flavor!
- 1 cup dry long grain brown rice
- 1 medium white onion
- 2 cups green beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 and ¼ cup chicken stock, divided
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 smoked andouille chicken sausages
- 28 ounces whole tomatoes in juice
- ¼ pound raw peeled deveined shrimp
- Begin by preparing your 1 cup of brown rice with 1 and ¼ cups chicken stock as the liquid, in a rice cooker or in a pot on the stove. Reserve the rest of the stock for later in the recipe. On the stovetop, allow it to cook for around 35-40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, you can start cooking the other ingredients. Chop the onion, and trim the green beans. Slice the green beans into bitesize pieces.
- In a separate pot from the rice, begin heating some olive oil on medium heat and sauté the onion for 3 minutes. Once slightly softened, add in the green beans and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
- To the vegetable pot, add in your flavor: the bay leaf, hot sauce, cumin, chili powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Give it a good stir.
- Chop up the sausages and add them in. If they are precooked, sauté for a few minutes to brown them; if they are raw, make sure they are browned on all sides and cooked through (around 7-10 minutes depending on size of chunks).
- Add in the whole tomatoes in juice as well as the reserved 1 cup of chicken stock you didn't use with the rice. Allow it to come to a boil and use a wooden spoon to break up the whole tomatoes into 3-4 pieces each.
- Place the raw shrimp on top of the mixture and cover the pot for about 5 minutes while the shrimp cook.
- Once the shrimp are pink, stir the cooked rice into the mixture until combined. It will be quite saucy, but you can allow it to simmer for a bit longer to thicken the mixture further.
- Serve hot. Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days.
One last shout out to Emma: She taught me to appreciate good hot sauce. For that, I am forever thankful, now that I have left my wimpy taste buds behind!
Have you spent any time in the South? Do you enjoy Southern food?
Marisa
Ang @ Nutty for Life says
Loooove jambalaya! I’ve only had it a handful of times, but it’s so good (esp for me, since I love spice, sausage and shrimp!). I love visiting the south. I know for sure once I had jambalaya in Charleston, which was such a beautiful place. I’ve also been to NOLA but I need to go back. When I was there we were out at a fancy dinner, and it had a lot of courses. One of them was fried zucchini I think? but the real kicker was that it was served with hot sauce and powdered sugar. Yep. The sweet lady next to me told me in her southern drawl to mix the powdered sugar and hot sauce together to dip. IT WAS INSANELY GOOD.
Marisa says
YES! Ugh I now want fried zucchini to dip into powdered sugar. What a fantastic Southern combo!