Crock Pot Cajun Jambalaya

To kick it off right, I've decided to make Crock Pot Cajun Jambalaya. There are two things that I love in this world... 1) my crock pot and 2) Cajun food. I love to use the crock pot because I work long hours and there's nothing better than coming home to a warm, home cooked meal that I can eat without effort. I discovered an awesome website, A Year of Slow Cooking, where Stephanie O'Dea spends an entire year making food in her crock pot. I never realized how many things could be made in the crock pot and just how easy cooking could be. Did you know that you can BAKE in your crock pot? This was a discovery of epic proportions for me, because I hate to bake. I have yet to actually bake anything in the crock pot...but it's on my list of things to do...er...um...some time soon.

So, without further ado...please enjoy reading my version of Crock Pot Cajun Jambalaya!

(original recipe found here)

Crock Pot Cajun Jambalaya

The Players (a.k.a the supplies that you need to make this scrumpdiddlyumptiousness)

1) Crock Pot

2) Wooden Spoon for stirring things in the Crock Pot

3) Rice Cooker

4) Scoopy thing that goes with the Rice Cooker for scooping rice

5) Cutting Board

6) Knife

7) Measuring Cup

8) Measuring Spoons

The Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts (mine were frozen)

1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced

1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes with juice

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 cup chicken broth, the original recipe called for half of a cup, but I didn't want my Jambalaya to dry out)

2 teaspoons dried Oregano (the original recipe called for half the amount of all of the seasonings, but I doubled everything because I like FLAVOR!)

2 teaspoons dried Parsley

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (yeah!)

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (yeah, yeah!)

1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme

*Notice that there is no salt in this recipe because the sausage will provide us with plenty of salt. Also, if you don't like your food very spicy, I would reduce the cayenne. The Andouille sausage will add some spice to our recipe.

Cutting the Sausage

I included this section because I like to cut my sausage on the bias, meaning at an angle. I think it looks prettier and it gives the eater (me) more sausage per bite. You will see pictures, below, that show how to cut on the bias. Basically, all you're doing is cutting the sausage into slices, at an angle.

The How To (a.k.a The Directions)

1) Put the chicken in the Crock Pot. The original recipe tells you to dice the chicken, but since mine was frozen, I just put it in the Crock Pot whole. The chicken will cook long enough that it will easily shred when I take it out...that's fine with me. I don't need my chicken to be in little squares. I don't judge.

2) Slice the sausage and put it in the Crock Pot. That sounds a little dirty, doesn't it?

3) Chop all of your veggies and put them in the Crock Pot. I like my veggies to be a more fine chop, but cut them however you prefer. I won't judge you, either.

4) Dump in the tomatoes WITH the juice. We want things to be juicy up in here.

5) Measure the chicken broth and pour it into the crock pot. I like to buy the Organic Chicken broth in the yellow box from the grocery store. I think it has more flavor than some of the other brands. Remember, kids, I like FLAVOR!

6) Measure and dump all of the spices into the Crock Pot.

7) Stir, stir, stir.

8) Turn the Crock Pot on to LOW and cook for 7-8 hours; or on high for 3-4 hours...it just depends on how urgently hungry you are. Then again, if you're urgently hungry, I wouldn't use the Crock Pot, a.k.a the SLOW cooker.

9) Stir the mixture occasionally to make sure it's not burning or sticking. Generally speaking, you want your Crock Pot to be at least 3/4 of the way full to prevent burning and sticking. Let me tell you, there is nothing worse than cleaning a crock where the food has stuck and burned.

10) During the last 20 minutes of cooking, make your rice in the rice cooker, or on the stove if you don't have a fancy rice cooker. I like to make basmati rice to go with just about everything, but any long grain rice will do.

Sometimes, I add hot sauce to my Jambalaya when I eat it, but that's just because I like it hot. You can also serve this recipe with a delicious salad. That would be nice...and healthy.

Go you! You accomplished Cajun Jambalaya! Enjoy!