Vegetable Jambalaya Stew

Mike is always touting my cooking skills. I guess it's time I prove it :) I like to make up recipes with whatever I have available. In the summer, this means playing Iron Chef with whatever Mike brings me from the garden. In the winter it means clearing out the freezer and the cans in the pantry. The winter is a particularly good time to make use of the crock pot!

Today I had some chicken andouille sausage so I figured I'd make up something cajun-inspired.

We'll call this concoction Vegetable Jambalaya Stew

Ingredients

- 4 stalks of celery chopped

- 4 carrots chopped

- 1 large red onion chopped

- 2 large cloves garlic minced

- 2 russet potatoes chopped

- 2 sweet potatoes chopped

- 1 cup frozen green beans (from last summer's garden)

- 1\2 cup frozen green bell peppers chopped (from last summer's garden)

- 2 pints of canned tomatoes (from last summer's garden)

- 12 oz of chicken andouille sausage sliced thin

- cajun seasoning to taste (I like Tony Chachere's)

- oregano to taste

- black pepper to taste

(I did not use salt because it is in the Tony Chachere's)

- 1 cup brown rice

- 1 cup dried black-eyed peas

- 2 cups vegetable stock

- 1 cup chicken stock

- 1 cup water (more as needed)

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours (I like the high setting to make sure the beans are soft by dinner time). Check every hour or so to see if you need to add more water. I usually end up adding a couple of cups to my concoctions over the cooking period. Serve with corn bread. Freeze all the left overs for later!

I used what I had available, but you could use any number of other ingredients in place of the ones I listed or in addition to them. I really love brussel sprouts with cajun seasoning, but I didn's have any. I think cauliflower would also be good. Of course you can also omit anything too--use all white or sweet potatoes, for instance. Also, any kinds of beans could be used--including canned beans--or you could omit them. Finally, you could add or replace the sausage with boneless skinless chicken thighs or shrimp (although wait until the last 1\2 hour of cooking to add the shrimp so it doesn't become rubbery).