Veggie Packed Jambalaya

After reading a gazillion blogs yesterday (a normal day) I came across a recipe for Jambalaya.  Usually when I think of jambalaya I think of this heavy rice dish which is super spicy, and has a mix of meats.  Call me strange but I don't like when one bite of food has pork, chicken and shrimp in it.  That's just me though.  After I made a few changes this is the recipe I came up with and I loved it! I considered calling it "quick" jambalaya BUT it took about a hour from start to finish...so you need to set aside a little time.  It is one of those dishes that you can't really leave the kitchen when it is cooking. 

Veggie Packed Jambalaya
(serves 4-6 or more)

Ingredients

4 chicken sausages, sliced (I used Aidell's Hanbanero and Green Chili's Chicken Sausage)
2 large red pepper, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 chicken broth

1 cup brown rice
3 cups water

Boil the water and add brown rice.  Cover and let boil for about 30 minutes or until the rice absorbs all of the water.

In a large skillet spray cooking spray of your choice (I used PAM because it is what I had in the pantry) and add sliced sausage to saute for 5-8 minutes.  Add chopped onion, red pepper and celery and let cook for another 10-15 minutes or until all vegetable are soft and onions are transparent.  Mix in chopped garlic and oregano and cook for about a minute.  Next, add in the fire roasted tomatoes and chicken broth.  Let simmer until most of the broth cooks away, probably about 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and add cooked rice. 

In recipes that I read it stated that you could add Tabasco or another hot sauce for taste but I don't think this needed it at all.  It had a spicy, smoky flavor and was the perfect blend of vegetables.  I will most definitely be making this again.

Sorry for no pictures....I am still getting used to this cooking and blogging about it thing! :-)