Oh how I love thee, jambalaya! Your spicy, tomato-y goodness just gets me every time. Make a big pot of this and eat on it all week. It’s especially comforting when it’s cold outside; a few extra dollops hot sauce never hurt anyone ;)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups brown rice
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups whole okra, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 small/medium zucchini, chopped into large pieces
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped in a food processor
3-4 stalks of celery, sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks
2 cups whole baby sweet peppers, sliced
1 log Lightlife Gimme Lean vegetarian sausage
1 can diced tomatoes, 32 oz can
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (or more)
2 tsp Everglades seasoning, or seasoned salt
4 tbsp light tasting olive oil

Make:
Chop onion in the food processor, and baby sweet peppers and celery on the cutting board. In a very large saucepan, add 2 tbsp oil and heat on high. Add garlic, sautee until browned. Add onions, peppers and celery and sautee until softened. Add rice and let it brown a little bit. Add vegetable broth, can of tomatoes, oregano, paprika, black pepper, cayenne and Everglades seasoning (or seasoned salt) and let simmer until the rice is done and almost all the water is absorbed. While the rice is cooking, in a separate saucepan, add the other 2 tablespoons of oil and heat on medium high heat. When heated, add the log of vegetarian sausage and chop it up with the spatula into about 1 inch pieces and brown for 5 minutes. Add chopped zucchini and okra. If it starts to get dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water at a time instead of oil. This veggie meat seems to be a major sponge to any oils added. Cook until the sausage is browned well and the veggies are almost fully cooked. The rice in the other saucepan should be nearly done and fully softened. When almost all the moisture is absorbed, add the cooked sausage, okra and zucchini and mix well. Simmer for only about 5 minutes more to combine the flavors. Serve with hot sauce of your choice. Makes about 8+ servings.