I found the base for this recipe on a T.V. show, though I can’t remember which one yet. I made a few changes to make this fit a member of the family who does not like tomatoes. The original recipe calls for a large can of stewed tomatoes, but I decided to replace it with the zucchini and it turned out wonderful. The story behind choosing zucchini is simple – I didn’t know what else to use, I was at the grocery store, and that’s what I saw. It works.
Ham and Shrimp Jambalaya
1 Red Pepper – Chopped
1 Green Pepper – Chopped
1 Zucchini – Chopped
1 White Onion – Chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves – Pressed
1 tsp Paprika
¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper – optional
¼ tsp. Oregano
¼ tsp. Thyme
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste – Optional
4 cups low sodium Chicken Broth
1 lb. Smoked Ham – Cubed
1 lb. Pre-cooked Shrimp
1 ½ cup Long Grain White Rice
Juice from 1 lime.
If using frozen shrimp, start thawing the shrimp in a colander in your sink first. Put olive oil in a large pan, then add the choped the peppers, onion and zucchini to the pan along with garlic and other spices. Add the tomato paste, broth, ham, lime juice and rice to the pan. Stir together and cook on medium for 20 minutes. Add thawed shrimp and cook another 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Side Note: I usually prefer to cook with brown rice instead of white rice, and I have tried this recipe with brown rice. This recipe is one of the first “one pan recipes” I will be sharing with you, and with brown rice you have two choices:
- Parboil the brown rice, meaning it is no longer a one pan recipe. I suggest parboiling even amounts of water and rice for 20 minutes before adding to this recipe.
- Eat the meal with half cooked rice – still edible, but not my preferred method of eating rice.
For this reason, I use the white rice which cooks perfectly in the above recipe.
