This is one of my favorite meals – and one of my mother’s specialties. She taught me this particular recipe when I was first learning to cook around age 10 or so, and it’s been a go-to for me ever since! Teeming with veggies and filled with protein, thanks to the veggie “chik’n,” it goes great over rice.
Gumbo purists might look askance when they hear that our gumbo doesn’t begin with the traditional roux. Rather, it begins with the whole kit and caboodle of ingredients thrown in one after another – a bag of frozen okra, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, one can of diced tomatoes, a container of veggie chik’n (we used Beyond Meat today), a healthy dose of Cajun seasoning, and, finally, a carton (about four cups) of vegetable broth. Heat your soup pot to boiling, then cook on Medium for half an hour or so – just enough time for your rice to cook!
In the final 10 minutes of the cooking time, I popped several slices of garlic bread into the oven to bake as a treat. I try to avoid impulse buys in the grocery store, but as I stood in the frozen-food section tonight, picking up some supplies I’ll need for the weekend, the bread beckoned me, and into my basket it went. Blame it on a weak moment. But on the plus side, we’ll certainly put every slice to good use!
This gumbo makes a lot, and it keeps (and freezes!) very well. In fact, the leftovers are usually better than the original batch, since the flavors have more time to mingle. Gives us something to look forward to for lunch!
:)