Pseudo-Cajun

So one sunny, hot, lazy afternoon in San Diego, there was a lot of lying around and the inevitable complaining about being hungry. My friend Josh and I took up the challenge and hit the store, determined to improvise something tasty. What we ended up with was the following recipe. It's not quite jambalaya, not quite gumbo, not quite red beans and rice, but whatever it is, I rarely have leftovers.


Recipe:

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1" strips
1 lb andouille sausage, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 lb shrimp (frozen ok, deveined, no shells, etc. )
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
4 leeks, sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1 cup scallions, chopped
16oz can of black beans
1 good, hoppy beer
2 tbsp olive oil
cayenne pepper to taste
2 cups basmati rice



Begin heating the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the chicken, cayenne pepper, and jalapenos to the pot, stirring to coat the chicken. Once the chicken has browned, add the onions leaks, and red peppers and half the beer. Stir occasionally, letting the vegetables soften. Add the sausage, black beans, and frozen shrimp, reduce heat and then simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. It progresses from looking lovely with all the peppers and green vegetables to more resembling a black bean paste in the end, but it's very very tasty!

Serve over a bowl of basmati rice, garnished with a couple spoonfuls of chopped scallions.