Polo’s Vegan Jambalaya
| Submitted by: Melissa Polovich, User Experience & Information Desk Services Manager, University Libraries |
|---|
My husband, Eric, grew up in New Orleans, and he’s been making chicken and sausage jambalaya for as long as he can remember. It’s become a Fat Tuesday tradition around his house. Ten years ago, he started dating a vegetarian and decided to work up a veg-friendly version based on the family recipe that he’s been using for 30 years….
| Servings: 8 | Cultural Connection: New Orleans, Louisiana |
|---|
Ingredients
| 1 package smoked tofu (diced into 1/2 in pieces) | 1 lb tofurky sausage, sliced | 1 cup carrots, (sliced into rounds) |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 bell peppers, diced | 2-3 stalks celery, diced | 1 large onion, diced (I usually use a sweet onion, like a Vidalia) |
| 3 cloves garlic, minced, or 3 tbsp crushed garlic | 1-2 cups veggie stock | 1-3 tbsp vegetable oil or butter |
| 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes | 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste | ½ tbsp chili powder |
| ½ tsp hot sauce (I prefer Crystal, but Frank’s works just as well) | ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper | ½ tbsp cajun seasoning (If the seasoning is low sodium, add a little salt to taste, but if you’re using something like Tony Chachere’s, you don’t need the salt) |
| 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce | 3 bay leaves | 2 cups uncooked white rice |
Instructions
- You’re going to be using one pot for this whole meal, so make sure it’s a big one… He uses an enameled cast iron pot.
- In a large pot over medium heat, cook your carrots, bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic with the oil or butter until the onion starts to become translucent. You can add 1/2 cup of the broth at this point, if you need to.
- Add everything else to the pot, except for the butter, stock, tofu, sausage, and rice. Reduce to low heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 1/2 cup of the broth, the smoked tofu to the pot.
- Continue to simmer it for about 15-20 minutes. Add the stock as you need to thin it out.
- Cook off your rice, in a rice cooker. (You can add it to the pot uncooked, but that drastically increases your cooking time) He usually partially cooks his, then tosses it directly from the rice cooker to the pot.
- Stir in the rice. Simmer until the rice is tender (about 30-45 minutes). At the ½ point, add your sausage and the vegan butter (the butter adds fat to the recipe, which slightly changes the consistency. You can do without it if you’d like, but he always finds that it adds a little something).
- At this point you can serve it or continue to simmer. The longer you simmer it the more the rice will soften. (Some folks like their jambalaya to have a pasty consistency.)
