Another version of jambalaya

Cajun Jambalaya
Cooking Healthy Across America Copyright 2005

½ pound chopped ham, tasso, andouille sausage, or smoked sausage
1 large onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ½ cups uncooked rice
1 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 bay leaf
½ pound cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
½ to 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Brown the ham or the sausage in a heavy 3-quart kettle, over high heat for about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion, celery, green pepper and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are lightly browned and wilted, about 5 minutes.

Add the dry rice and stir for about 5 minutes, until the rice has some color. Add the chicken broth and stir to loosen any scrapings from the bottom of the pot. Add the seasoned salt and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on low for 25 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.

Remove the bay leaf; fluff the rice. Stir in the chicken and hot sauce. I splashed some hot sauce on the top too.

Makes 8 servings. Per 1 ¾ cup serving: 320 cal, 12 g fat, 4 g sat fat, 45 mg chol, 520 mg sodium, 32 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 21 g protein
_____________________________

Gosh, how many times have I made jambalaya? Several times but still probably not often enough. It's something that we all enjoy. Even my son asked for seconds. I really should put it on the menu more often.

Some recipes call for tomato but this one did not. It was still pretty good but I might prefer versions with a bit of tomato. I used up a couple of links of Polish sausage that I had in the freezer for the pork portion of this recipe. I love when I get rid of something out of the freezer.

I froze this since I made it Sunday and we weren't eating it until later in the week. It didn't suffer too much from the freezing.

I'll say it again, cooking ahead of time on the weekend has done wonders for my weekdays. I just have to figure out a way to make it take less time out of my weekend.

Question of the Day: Do you have anything in your freezer right now that is fully-cooked that you could pull out for dinner tonight if you had to? Something you would just need to heat and heat?