Winter One Pot Wonder
Spitting snow flakes this evening and I wanted comfort food but craving something spicy. I love Cajun food but can’t eat hardly any of it because it house flour in it. If you are trying to avoid gluten/wheat, you’ll soon realize that most soups that you eat at a restaurant use flour to thicken, and rues are out of the question. I made a big pot of what I’m going to call “No-No Gumbo” because it has No Gluten and No (Actual) Meat. My Houma, Coushatta and Cajun friends can correct me if I’m wrong, but as I understand it, Gumbo is a thick stew that is served with rice on the side. As opposed to Jambalaya, where the rice is in the actual pot.
No-No Gumbo
In a large pot I’d normally use for stews or chili, I start off with half a cub of avocado oil (it can withstand high temperatures) and half a cup of gluten free flour. Make a rue by stirring just these 2 ingredients for about 10 minutes, but pay attentions and constantly stir or you’ll burn it. When that starts to get a deeper yellow to brownish color, turn down to low and then throw in the veggies: start with 3 cups of veggie broth (make your own or buy it at the store), a whole onion chopped (yellow or white), a large bell pepper (I used green but any color will do), some cilantro or parsley, 2 table spoons of garlic (or more), two diced tomatoes (or use one can drained), and seasoning to your taste. I used cajun spice, blackened spice and pepper - just check the spice ingredients for gluten/wheat. Taste as you go, often. You can stop there. Edited to note: this will thicken up as it cooks so you may need to add more water or broth.
Let’s talk about meat. Gumbo usually has meat of some kind like sausage, shrimp and/or chicken. I do (more rarely now) buy some fake (plant-based) meat. from time to time - I did this more at first because I really thought I’d miss it more than I do. Have some on hand in case you panic. My local health food store (Oasis in Tahlequah) store carries plant-based breakfast sausages and I used just 3 of them in this dish. It’s expensive ($8 for a frozen pack) but that gets me through 3 meals. Again, read the label to make sure no gluten/wheat which is common with plant-based “meats.” I browned the “sausages” in the iron skillet (almost burnt on purpose) and then cut them in bite size pieces to throw in the stew. It did the trick. And I had a tiny bit of tofu I didn’t use for yesterday’s BlackEyed Pea Hummus Tacos and threw a handful of that in for good measure. Damned if it didn’t take like real Gumbo. Served with a little brown rice and topped with some slices of avocado (which I try to get in every day).
