Since January is National Soup month I figured I must share my Chicken Gumbo recipe. Gumbo is usually made with other meats but by using chicken you keep it lower in fat and calories. If you are diabetic and watching yoru carbs decrease the rice down to 1/4 cup.
Chicken Gumbo Soup
1/3 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon sat
1 tbls. Olive oil
1 green bell pepper (sliced and diced)
1 red bell pepper(sliced and diced)
1 cup diced celery
1 small yellow onion diced
2 tbls. flour
3 cups canned stewed tomatoes
2 1/4 cup boxed chicken stock, preferably reduced sodium
1 small can of tomato paste
1 teaspoon thyme fresh or dried
1/2 teaspoon oregano fresh or dried
1 teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce
10 oz package of frozen okra, thawed
1 3/4 cups of water
1 pound of boneless chicken thighs or breassts cut into 1 inch squares
Instructions
Cook rice according to the instructions on the package. Add a bit of salt to add some flavor.
While the rice is cooking, place a large saucepan on the stove and pour in the olive oil and heat it up until it is hot but not smoking. Your heat should be on medium. Add in the bell peppers, celery, and onions and cook until they are all tender. This should take about 5 minutes. At this point stir in the flour stir it continuously for about 4 minutes or until it starts to get a golden color.
Add in the tomatoes. Stir them in kind of briskly so that they break up a bit so they are not full round tomatoes and are more chunky instead. Feel free to push them in with a spoon a bit to help break them up more.
Now it is time to add in the broth, the water, the tomato paste,thyme, oregeno, and salt and bring it all to a boil. Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes and then turn it down to a simmer. Add in the Okra and cook for another 4 minutes stirring every so often. Then add in the chicken pieces and cook for an additional ten minutes. Then add in the rice and cook for an additonal 5 minutes or so. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked through and if it is your chicken gumbo is ready to serve.
This soup is hearty enough to serve as a meal and makes 4 generous servings or 6 modest servings.
Enjoy!!
