Not-So-Southern Gumbo

There are two things that pop into my head when the clouds roll in and my stomach is growling: (1) pie, (2) soup or stew. Since pie is almost always on my mind, I ruled this out yesterday when we got our first "toad-strangler" of summer. I took a quick inventory of what was coming off in the garden: peppers, onions, celery, tomatoes, and okra, and I realized that my garden was pretty much begging me to cook a pot of gumbo. Typically, this is not a light dish, and its components are varied from household to household, and often protein-rich: chicken, andouille sausage, crawfish, shrimp, langoustine, oysters, etc. This would mean some "picking" for me, since I'm about 3/4 of the way through my experimental month of no meat. There is just no way to make gumbo vegetarian and feel right about it. So, I decided I would try and "healthify" (yes, I just made that word up) the dish a little, by increasing the fresh veggies, decrease the quantity of protein, while not eliminating it, and focusing on choosing lighter proteins for the dish. And I'd just have to dole out my sausage to the hubby, sadly. While it certainly couldn't be called light, it was absolutely just what the doctor ordered for our gray, rainy night, even if I had to hand over the andouille.

Not-So-Southern Gumbo
Ingredients
3/4 C vegetable oil
3/4 C all purpose flour
1 T olive oil
2 links of andoille sausage, sliced (I used smoked chicken andouille)
1 lb langoustines (no langoustines? Just use shrimp. I simply didn't because my husband won't eat them)
2 quarts chicken stock
1 C chopped onion
1 C chopped celery with leaves
1/2 C chopped green bell pepper
1 16 oz jar crushed tomatoes
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
1 C sliced okra (if you don't have fresh okra available, just use frozen)
2 T Cajun seasoning blend
2 bay leaves
sliced scallions and fresh parsley for garnish
cooked white rice for serving
hot sauce for serving (Crystal or Tabasco are perfect)

Prepare your roux (pronounced rue) by slowly adding flour to the oil, warmed over medium heat in a cast iron dutch oven. Stir regularly until the roux is a dark, chocolaty brown color. This took me about an hour and a half. In between stirring, chop your vegetables. When the roux is ready, add the onions, peppers and celery (called the Trinity by our Southern friends).

Stir regularly until the vegetables have caramelized in the roux, about 10 minutes.

Add the crushed and fresh tomatoes, stirring to combine, allowing again, for the vegetables to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bay leaves and seasoning. Next, saute the andouille in the olive oil over medium heat until the edges are crispy and brown. Drain off any extra oil, and add the sausage to the soup pot. Once the soup has come to a simmer, add the okra.

Turn the heat down to low, put the lid on the pot and go do something else for 2 hours. Take the lid off the pot, and add the langoustines. Cook only until they turn pink. If using frozen precooked shellfish, cook only until warmed through. Serve over a scoop of cooked white rice with fresh scallions and parsley. A healthy dash or two of hot sauce is great here too.