I dont know if it was the nasty weather here yesterday or what but Scott and I were both craving something hearty and having recently learned that cauliflower can be used as rice, I decided to make a jambalaya. It might have been my husband’s appetite but he said “this is definitely my new favorite!”. Tate and I loved it too (Alice hasn’t been around to try it yet). I thought it was going to be daunting to make but it was actually quite easy, and with Scott’s help, the cleanup wasn’t as bad.
Here’s what you need:
- 1 andouille sausage (I used Whole Food’s Wellshire turkey)
- 1 whole chicken (WF’s organic free range. Mine was 3 1/2 lbs)
- 6-8 garlic cloves (Trader Joe’s pre-pealed in the orange bag by the bags of spinach)
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
When I first woke up, I got the chicken ready for the slow cooker. I added a few shakes of salt, oregano, and thyme to cover the chicken, and then let it cook on low for 5 hours. Around lunch time, I cut up the sausage and cooked that in a large pan until almost brown. Set that aside, but still in the pan. Then, to make life easier, and since I was going to have to pull out my food processor anyway, I let it chop up my onions, green peppers, and even my garlic cloves. That was quick. I need to use that more often! Then, I added those veggies to the pan with the sausage, mixed it all together and let it cook on low for about 10 minutes. Then, back to the food blender, I added in the cauliflower to blend it until it because rice like, and then added that with the sausage and veggies. I mixed it all together so the flavors would mix but didn’t need to cook it much more.
Last few steps! Now, take the chicken out of the slower cooker but leave all of it’s juices in there. Debone the chicken, put all of the meat back in the cooker. Pour in all of your veggies and sausage with the chicken. Lastly, add in the tomato paste, a can of tomatoes, and all of the spices above and mix together. Place the lid back on the cooker for a bit longer to make sure the caulflower is cooked. Let it sit maybe 10 minutes and then enjoy! It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself!
Jenn Godfrey - This looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try it out!!
Erin - How long do you need to cook the chicken? And, do you need any liquid in there when you start, or is it a dry slow cooker? Thanks!
landriav - I cooked it on low for 5 hours in my crock pot/slow cooker. And nope, no liquid at all. Just chicken spices and cover. You will end up with plenty of yummy juices from the chicken for the jambalaya. Great questions, thanks for asking!!
Lisa - I made this tonight and it was a-ma-zing!!! The crockpot chicken is genius – so easy and delicious. I would have been happy just eating the chicken! I think I chopped the veggies up too fine – it was nowhere near as pretty as yours, but still yummy! Thanks for the great recipes. We have also been trying veggie appetizers and my 3 gals are eating them!
landriav - That is awesome Lisa!!! Love that you guys liked this, and love even more that the girls are eating their greens! 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment! I really appreciate!
Jen - Hey! I think this looks yummy and am going to try it tonight, but have a question. I only have a couple of chicken breasts and was thinking of adding some shrimp to make up for the lack of meat. Since I don’t have a whole chicken I was just going to boil the chicken breasts. I figured I could substitute the “chicken juices” for some stock…..do you think that would be ok and couple you give me an estimate of about how much stock I should use for it to all come together? TIA!!! :0)
landriav - Hey Jen! I think that would likely work well. I would guess maybe use 1/2 cup but pour slowly so you can gauge. You can always add in, you can’t take any out. Hth! Let me know how it turns out. Sounds yummy!!
Jen - IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! 🙂
Carmen Genuardi - I am new to this site and love the easy to follow and kid friendly recipes.
I wonder if there is a way to add a “print” this recipe button?
Thank you,
Carmen