Jambalaya
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced small
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 ribs celery, diced small
1 teaspoon zesty seasoning (I use Ms. Dash Zesty salt free seasoning)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper, to taste
1 (12 ounce) package vegan chorizo (I use Melissa's Soyrizo)
1 (15 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (I use Muir Glen)
1 (12 ounce) package vegan chicken strips (I use Lightlife)
1 cup vegetable stock
2 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked
dash hot sauce, optional (I use Chalua)
1. Heat oil in large skillet (I used one that I could fit the whole dish in to economize on washing dishes, just make sure it has a lid.) Saute the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic over medium heat until soft.
2. Add the seasonings and vegan chorizo. Be sure to stir well so it doesn’t stick.
3. Add the tomatoes, vegan chicken strips, stock, and rice, stir well. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.
4. Serve with dash of hot sauce if desired.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I love this recipe. I started making this recipe last year. I always get great compliments - from vegetarians and meat eaters. I followed the recipe pretty closely... I use Tofurky chorizo or Frieda's chorizo. I use fire roasted garlic tomatos rather than stewed. And sometimes I use field roast sausage rather than vegan chicken strips. I use a bit less rice (minus 1/4 to 1/2 cup) and a bit more stock (an extra 1/2 cup) - personal preference to have it a bit more saucy. I also omit the hot sauce since I also serve it to kids and I find the chorizo makes it hot enough. Love it! I tried it with beans but I wasn't thrilled with the flavor change. But everyone has their preference. This is my go-to recipe on Mardi Gras and any other day.
I made jambalaya a lot before I went veggie, and this is better than the meat version! I replaced the fake meat with sauteed mushrooms and organic chili beans, only added half a red onion, and used creole seasoning, italian seasoning and black pepper. My non vegan compadres loved it!!!!
I decided to try this when it seemed kind of like a more complex (altered) version of my beans & rice recipe.
Finished a while ago and am eating it now. It's pretty good, quite colorful and moderately tasty as well as moderately spicy-hot. I will probably make it again at some point, but I have had better (Which even contained Zucchini and Squash, both of which I do not like).
My version;
I started the rice and cooked it in half water, half leftover veg stock I didn't want to go bad (and after tasting the rice, I wish I had more veg stock to cook it with lol). Gave me just enough time to prep everything else for cooking.
I used a red bell pepper instead of a green since I do not like green bells very much. I also added in a small head of broccoli (and stems) and some peas and corn, I also added a little less than half a brick of leftover tofu.
I used mexican stewed tomatoes instead of normal stewed tomatoes, and red and black beans instead of vegan chicken strips.
For "Zesty seasoning" I used some oregano, red pepper flake, crushed black pepper, salt and some garlic powder. Don't be afraid to be a touch heavy handed on some of the seasonings (IMO), definitely needs salt, heh.
It ended up making so much I couldn't put everything in one pot / skillet, I had to transfer to a large soup pot for the last step of mixing it all together and letting it warm. If I had been thinking I would have sort of deglazed the skillet with the veg stock rather than dumping it into the pot /shrug.
Anyway - picture
This was Superb!! My family tore it up!!!My 6y.o. son is picky, but he loved this :-D. Will definately make again. ;)b
This is one of my family's favorites. Even the meat eaters request it all the time. I don't use the chicken strips, and I use a cajun seasoning instead of the mrs dash and make vegan chicken broth instead of the veggie broth. It is so good! We serve it with toasty French bread (like garlic bread but we use eb and olive oil and Cajun seasoning instead of garlic butter). Seriously! SO SO SO GOOD!
I used a pkg of Tofurky Italion sausages, skipped the chiken strips, celery and bell pepper( didn't have any). Did add half a bag of okra. This was OK. Even with the guacomole on top. Oh yea, I substituted outback spirit lemon myrtle coconut & chili seasonings for salt free seasoning.
Fake meat was good for a change.
This is pretty good. The seasoning I used could have been better, and I did add salt and just a squirt of agave.
It tasted like something was just... missing.
I omitted the vegan chicken, and next time I'm going to use a different brand of soyirizo (I used Yves; I wouldn't recommend it, as it had a format much like ground beef, and it made me think of cows being slaughtered. The taste wasn't too bad though.)
I made my own Cajun spice mix with white pepper, black pepper, oregano, thyme, onion & garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
I'll have to tinker with it just a bit, but I gave it 4 stars.
I liked the addition of okra (I used frozen) and I think I'd prefer it with more tomato (I used the smaller can) and maybe even no vegan meat. I may try adding more veggies or some beans... I'll get back to y'all on that after I figure it out ;)b
Thanks for the recipe :)
So awesome! I was a little sketchy on how it might turn out, but this was just delicious!I knew the soyriso was a bit spicy, and I didn't have the seasoning called for, soI just added the thyme and 1/2 tsp paprika, and it turned out GREAT! Next time I will sub black beans for the chicken strips(cause I'm not real crazy about the taste/texture of fake chicken stuff), but my husband liked it and thought it gave a nice textural contrast.
A little advice
quadruple the spices
and replace the salt with seasoned salt
Made it yesterday, and had to add more spices but it was good.
Made it again today, but replaced the chicken and sausage with black and kidney beans. Loved it.
At any rate fake meat holds you back as a vegan. It should be a stepping stone, not a destination. Real foods have more flavor and nutrition, and the recipe gets a lot cheaper when you don't have too buy $10 worth of processed junk.
Wow! This was a LOT better than I expected. I made this for my dad's birthday because Jambalya is his favorite... I was really wary of how it would turn out veganized, but it was DELICIOUS, and everyone kept raving about it.
I used Yves soyrizo, Light Life Chik'n Strips, and a 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes was definitely more than enough...
I think next time, though, I will add some Tofurky Italian Sausage in addition to the Soyrizo, because I think some sliced chunks of sausage would be a great addition.
Also...some okra would be perfect in this.
I cut the celery out of the recipe... I hate celery.
It was delicious and gorgeous, I wish I would have remembered to take photos!
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