Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a one-pan Cajun rice recipe similar to Spanish Paella. It is a blend of the Old World and New World. Most of the prep time, like many Asian recipes, is cutting and chopping the meat and vegetables.

There are thousands of jambalaya recipes. Like most rustic cuisines, jambalaya ingredients can down to local availability. Sound familiar?

You can make dozens of variation of jambalaya by adding, subtracting, and substituting ingredients. There is no right or wrong. Make adjustments to your taste.

Cajun cooking can be spicy and uneatable by some people. The heat comes from ground cayenne pepper and hot sauce (Tobasco®). While I consider this Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya recipe medium to mildly hot you can easily adjust the amount of cayenne pepper and jot sauce to your taste. Also keep in mind that the heat intensity of cayenne pepper varies from 30,000 to 190,000 Scoville Units. So your cayenne pepper can be milder or hotter than mine.

If you are concerned about making your jambalaya too hot, use half the amount of cayenne and hot sauce or less and go from there. You can always add more cayenne pepper and hot sauce.

For a lighter colored jambalaya increase the amount of rice from 1 to 1.5 cups. This also increases the number of servings to nine or ten.

Substitutions

Jambalaya is traditionally made using white rice. But, you can be substitute brown rice for increased fiber. Because jambalaya is spicy, using brown rice does not alter the flavor. Using brown rice increases cooking time to 40 minutes or more.

Brown Rice Chicken And Shrimp Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
• 1 cup (250 g) smoked ham (optional)
• 8 oz. (225 g) Andouille or kielbasa sausage
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 green, red, or yellow bell pepper
• 2 to 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 lb. (450 g) chicken breast, cubed
• 14.5 oz. (411 g) canned low sodium diced tomatoes or 2-3 fresh tomatoes chopped
• 8 oz. (225 g) tomato sauce
• 2 to 3 cups (400-700 ml) low sodium chicken broth or stock
• 1 cup (170 g) uncooked log grain brown or white rice
• 1/2 lb (225 g) cooked or raw shrimp, scallops, crab or lobster
• Seasoning Mix
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 1 1/2 tsp (7.5 ml) fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tsp (5 ml) Kosher salt
• 1 tsp (5 ml) white pepper
• 1/2 - 1 tsp (2.5-5 ml) cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp (5 ml) fresh or dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp (7.5 ml) dried oregano

Method of Preparation