Let’s get Shakin!!!
Here we are in the middle of Mardi Gras season and like every year I’m getting the same questions and comments. I wanna make something traditional, and I wanna make something good, but it just takes too long to make, I am not an expert in the kitchen. Well, that’s okay, a lot of what I cook or present in my articles and even my shows are recipes that might not fit every box. Some are time-consuming, but no worries. There are a lot of great “shortcut” recipes out there that taste great, are easy to make, and don’t take too much time, and anyone can make them. The next recipe in our Mardi Gras series is just that. It’s a Creole Jambalaya that will come out perfect every time. No worries about mushy rice (or even worse crunchy rice); you don’t have a destroyed kitchen and a lot of clean-up when you are done. If fact my favorite is to even, make this dish in a disposable pan, and then you have almost no cleanup at all
Oven Creole Jambalaya (yes, I said oven)
Ingredients
- 2 small mixed yellow, orange, and/or red bell peppers, cut into thin slices and slices halved crosswise
- 1 (12-oz.) pkg. andouille sausage, sliced
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, thinly sliced (3 cups)
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Benwood’s Surely Southern Seasoning (or Cajun or Creole seasoning of your choice), divided
- 3 large scallions
- 12 ounces jumbo peeled, deveined raw shrimp
- 1 (10-oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (such as Rotel), drained
- 2 (8.8-oz.) pkg. precooked microwavable white rice
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss together bell peppers, sausage, onion, thyme, oil, garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of the Benwood’s on a 13- x 18-inch rimmed baking sheet; spread mixture in an even layer. Bake until mixture is almost tender-crisp, 15 to 17 minutes, stirring the mixture once halfway through cook time.
- Meanwhile, thinly slice dark green parts of the scallions; set aside. Thinly slice the white and light green parts of the scallions and transfer them to a large bowl. Add shrimp, drained tomatoes, green chiles, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of Benwood’s seasoning. Using your hands, crumble rice into shrimp mixture to separate any clumps; stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Stir shrimp mixture into bell pepper on the baking sheet; return to the oven. Bake at 425°F until shrimp are pink and opaque throughout and rice is warm and tender about 9 minutes. Sprinkle with dark green parts of scallions.
Until next week, I’m Chef Hunter Lee wishing you all a festive and joyous Mardi Gras season. Remember, “treat your kitchen, treat yourself”
Benwood’s, uniquely southern, surely the best!