For My Vegetarian Readers

Here is a great vegetarian recipe for meatless jambalaya. (You must say Jambalaya like Newman does in the soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld.) This comes from a little Pillsbury Vegetarian cookbook that I picked up a while ago in the check-out line.

Meatless Jambalaya
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 a green pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 an onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and roughly cut tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice (not instant rice)
1 (15 ounce) can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook and stir 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Stir in water, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the rice. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir occasionally.

Stir in beans. Cover; simmer an additional 5-10 minutes to heat through. Serves 5.

If you're aren't a vegetarian, you could certainly add meat to this for more protein, but the beans are quiet filling. Andouille sausage, chicken or shrimp would be excellent in this. If you do add meat, I suggest adding a little more tomatoes or sauce to the mixture, so it isn't too thick. Also, if you like really spicy food, feel free to add more cayenne pepper. You could also add cracked red pepper or hot sauce to increase the heat.

This is a lucky week for my non-carnivorous readers. I have two more non-meat dishes planned for this week: fresh vegetables and basil fettuccine; and pasta and bean soup. Stay tuned.