Our January Cooking column is all about the best recipes for home cooking, and Good Bite Weeknight Meals gets its 140 recipes from food bloggers (very similar to our Cookbook of the Month, The Food52 Cookbook). The selections in these books make day-to-day cooking a breeze. Not to mention, if your New Year’s resolution is to spend less money this year, home cooking is the way to go!
This recipe is a great example of the Good Bite mantra: “delicious made easy.”
Slow-Cooker Jambalaya
by Jaden Hair steamykitchen.com
This chicken, sausage, and shrimp jambalaya is one of my family’s favorites. When it’s cooked “low and slow” in the slow cooker, the chicken is especially tender and delicious.
You’ll want to prep and get this recipe going in the morning–the jambalaya needs four to six hours of cooking time on the slow cooker’s high setting, or six to eight hours if cooked on low.
Serves 4 to 6
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch-thick pieces
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, plus additional for seasoning
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco or hot sauce, or to taste
- 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 cups hot cooked rice or 1 large baguette
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sausage, season to taste with salt and black pepper, and cook, turning once, until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken and sausage to a slow cooker, reserving the oil in the pan.
Add the celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker. Add the broth, crushed tomatoes, Cajun seasoning, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours.
Once the jambalaya is cooked, turn off the slow cooker and skim away any excess oil on the surface. Add the shrimp and stir until pink, 3 to 5 minutes. (The residual heat from the slow cooker will suffice to cook the shrimp.) If desired, add more salt, black pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Serve the jambalaya over hot cooked rice or with bread.
Make It Easy
Dice the celery, bell pepper, and onion the night before to save on prep time in the morning.
“Throw everything in the pot, plug it in, and push a button. Don’t you wish everything in life were this easy?!”
Excerpted from Good Bite Weeknight Meals from John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Read our review of this book.
