Cajun Jambalaya, Done Vegan

 

My mother was born and raised in Elton, Louisiana, a small town in the Cajun Triangle (the area with points in Alexandria, pronounced Ahl-eck for short; Lafayette and Lake Charles). The poverty was real, but even during the Depression, they still managed to grow plenty of rice and sugar cane, and fish for sac-au-lait and crawfish, and hunt for ducks. My grandfather had a herd of cattle that foraged in the dense woods, and would ride his horse to round them up by nightfall. My mother had to milk their stingy teats to get what little milk they provided before heading off to school. She was the youngest of five girls and a boy, and the first to learn English before starting school. 

But the food was good, spicy but not mouth-burningly hot, and heavily rice-based. They loved their rice, and looked aghast at anyone who would cook it with tomatoes and ruin the texture. (They liked tomatoes, but in a sauce or as a side dish.)

I’m sure there were times when the ducks had migrated, the pork from the pigs that were slaughtered in the fall ran out, the chickens refused to lay. But if there were any recipes for jambalaya that didn’t have tasso (a spicy ham) or andouille sausage or chicken or all three, they weren’t in my mother’s recipe box.

I made this vegan version for my book club ladies earlier this month, and they liked it a lot. Since I now live in Sacramento, I toned down the amount of cayenne pepper, but had my hot sauce available for any brave souls who needed it.

Lori K’s Vegan Jambalaya

Serves 6-8

Seasoning mix:

4 small whole bay leaves, dried

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Pinch of cayenne

1 teaspoon of filé powder (ground sassafras leaves, also called filé gumbo)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

2 cups uncooked rice (I like basmati, but any long-grain rice will do)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup chopped red, yellow or orange bell pepper

2 cloves minced garlic

1 can of beans, rinsed and drained (any unseasoned type will do; I prefer cannellini beans)

3 cups vegetable stock (be sure it doesn’t contain tomatoes or tomato juice; if you can’t find it, and haven’t made your own from vegetable peelings and scraps, Seitenbacher makes a good instant vegan broth)

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Instructions

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix in a small bowl and set aside.

Rinse the rice until clear, drain and put in an oiled 9x13 glass pan. Set aside.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat; add the onion, celery, peppers and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the seasoning mix and cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Scrape it into the pan over the rice. Sprinkle the beans over the vegetables.

Bring the vegetable stock to a boil. Add the yeast and soy sauce. Pour slowly over the rice and vegetables and cover tightly with foil. Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Check to see if the rice is browning around the edges; if so, turn down the head to 350 and bake 15 minutes more. Otherwise, continue baking for 10 minutes at 375, and if the rice is tender but still a little crunchy, take it out of the oven and cover tightly. Let it rest, covered, for about 10 minutes. Serve.