Meatless Monday: Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

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Raise your hand if you made New Year’s resolutions.

Okay, now raise your hand if one of those was to get healthier and/or lose weight.

Okay, I see a few of you out there. You didn’t know I had spy cams embedded within this blog did you? Oh the marvels of modern technology!

Seriously, for those of you that are trying to be a bit healthier, adopting the Meatless Monday lifestyle could be a good option. Not sure exactly what that means? Just click here to get a better understanding.

When I took the Meatless Monday pledge back in the summer, I was afraid it might be a little difficult to satiate Ravi’s appetite if meat wasn’t a part of the meal. If I were feeding only myself, eating loads and loads of salads would work, but I’ve got my hubby to take care of too, and he needs something a little more substantial.

Turns out that not only has it been pretty simple to cut back on our meat consumption, but it’s actually been a fun challenge to create vegetarian recipes that we enjoy. The key is creating dishes so flavorful that you won’t even miss the meat. Served with a side of cornbread*, a big bowl of this healthy jambalaya is just that.

Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

Inspired by this recipe from allrecipes.com. Makes 4 servings.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion (about ½ a medium)

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbsp of chopped parsley (optional)

1 ½ cups vegetable broth

½ cup brown rice

2 (15 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles with liquid

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

½ tsp Tabasco

½ tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery, cook about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add garlic and parsley and saute 2-3 more minutes. Pour in the broth, and mix in rice, black-eyed peas, and diced tomatoes with green chiles. Add Cajun seasoning, Tabasco, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until rice is tender.

If you bother to click through my links, you may notice that the original recipe I used as inspiration was called a “gumbo”, but technically it isn’t because there is no roux. To me, it really seems more jambalaya-ish, thus, I renamed it so. If you wanted it to be more soup-like, doubling up the broth would help. Just be sure to add some extra seasonings if you do that so you don’t miss out on the great flavors!

*stay tuned tomorrow for my cornbread “recipe”