Chicken Gumbo Soup

An old friend came over the other night and to celebrate this surprise visit I decided to make Chicken Gumbo Soup.  It has been a while since I saw my old friend but I am happy to see we are restarting our friendship.  I picked this soup mainly because I had extra thyme, parsely and bay leaf (see CHICKEN POT PIE SOUP from last posting ).  Again, I got the recipe from "Splendid Soups & Spectacular Sides to make a meal" by Cuisine at Home.

Traditionally, gumbo requires hours to make but this one should take about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.  I decided to make Akeya rice instead of plain white rice to accompany the gumbo.  Akeya rice is a healthy substitute to plain white rice. For one serving (a cup) it has 160 calories compared to the 204 calories with plain white rice.  Either way, I decided to make it since my health-conscious mother gave it to me to try.  Cooking it on the stovetop was a long wait.  In retrospect, I could have gone to bed earlier if I cooked the plain white rice instead.

 In the end, this soup hit the spot for me though I don't think my friend shared the same sentiments.  I might have added too much cayenne (for an extra kick since I like spicy foods) and maybe just a little (insert sarcasm) dash of  red pepper flakes to see what would happen.  Well what happened was she couldn't handle the heat and couldn't enjoy a full bowl!  With that said, be mindful with how much cayenne you add to the gumbo goodness.

BROWN IN 2 T. OLIVE OIL; in large pot over medium heat for 5-8 minutes.

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
8 oz. kielbasa, 1/4"- thick slices

Remove meats from the pot and set aside.

COMBINE in the same pot the meat was browned in. 

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, or until it's the color and consistency of peanut butter.

ADD:
3/4 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup green bell peppers, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. each cayenne, white pepper, and ground black pepper

Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

STIR IN; SEASON:
1 can diced tomatoes in juice (14 1/2 oz.)
6 cups chicken broth
4 sprigs of fresh parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf

Simmer 10-15 minutes, then season with salt to taste

ADD:
2 cups frozen sliced okra (or fresh)
Reserved chicken and sausage

Simmer for 5 minutes.  Serve gumbo over steamed white rice if desired.

DISCLAIMER:  For some reason, we could not find okra at the grocery store.  We searched high and low in that store and couldn't even find the frozen ones! I told my friend it's not really gumbo without okra.  What do you think?