Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya

Celebrate Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) with some homemade Jambalaya. It's easy to make and oh so delicious. Make it as hot or mild as you want, raise a Hurricane glass of rum punch, crank up the Dixieland Jazz and make sure to save room for a slice of King Cake! (Lent starts tomorrow!)

Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya

2 T vegetable oil, divided

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1 red sweet bell pepper, diced
1 green sweet bell pepper, diced
1 yellow sweet bell pepper, diced
3 stalks of celery, sliced or diced

1 pound of Andouille sausage or Chorizo sausage, sliced into 1/4” slices (remove the skin if necessary) OR boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes. (OR use a combo the two)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained well - reserving juice for seasoning

4 C hot, cooked rice of your choice (I use Uncle Ben’s Boil in the Bag – 2 bags)

Combine in a small bowl:
1/2 tsp (or more!) of hot sauce (Tabasco, Franks Red Hot, Tapatio, etc.)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp (or more!) of cayenne pepper

1/4 to 1/2 pound peeled and cleaned raw shrimp (about 20 medium or large sized)

2 green onions chopped
lemon slices for garnish
(optional)

Mise en place: (set up ahead of time)
Chop and dice all vegetables and set aside: onions and garlic in a one bowl; peppers and celery in another.
Slice meat and clean shrimp. (sprinkle shrimp with sea salt) Set aside.
Combine the spices in a small bowl.
Drain the tomatoes, save the juice.
Whisk spices into reserved tomato juice.
Cook rice and set aside.

Heat 1 T of oil in a very large, family-sized skillet (or wok if you don’t have a very large skillet) 
Add onion and garlic, cook on medium, for about 3 minutes.  Add peppers and celery, cook about 5 minutes more.  Transfer mixture to a bowl, and set aside.  
Heat remaining oil, and cook the sausage or chicken on medium high heat, browning on all sides.  Stir, stir, stir. 
Reduce heat to medium.
Return the veggies to the pan, stir in tomatoes, rice and tomato juice/seasoning mixture. Cook for 3 minutes. 
Push mixture to the side of the pan, add a drizzle of oil and add shrimp to the pan.  Cook and stir for a few minutes until shrimp turns pink.  Stir shrimp into the rest of the mixture.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook a few minutes longer.  I like to garnish with chopped green onions, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and more hot sauce, ‘cause I like it spicy!