A few weeks ago I thought about dishes that I could make in my slow cooker again – as it’s been a bit neglected (along with this blog). So I started searching through Pinterest and came to a lot of posts about jambalaya. I immediately thought back to my university years, remembering how much I had loved jambalaya, and how often I had made it for friends.

For those who aren’t aware, jambalaya is a cajun-inspired saucy rice dish from Louisiana. It’s super simple to make, as it’s a one pot dish, and doesn’t require too much attention. You can add whatever meat you like, or completely omit the meat for a vegetarian option. You can increase or decrease the amount of cayenne pepper added, to work to your tastes as well.

Now, with this recipe I used chorizo, but for a much healthier option I’d swap it out for prawns. It’s half the WW SmartPoints with prawns, so that would be the route to go down if you want to keep your meal low. With chorizo, a portion is 10 SPs, with prawns it’s only 5 SPs. Obviously, I will have to work around the high point number for this meal by eating smaller pointed meals at other times of the day. But, boy, is it worth it.

This is something I will be cooking every month or so, just like I used to, in order to keep me on track with WW, as well as making an easy lunch to take to work or dinner when I’m home later in the evenings.

It would appear that saucy rice dishes are another of my staple comfort foods – especially in bulk.

I also need to apologise for the lack of posting recently, getting back to work after Chinese New Year, and then being sick the past week has just meant that cooking for the blog has taken a back seat. But I’m (hopefully) back, and ready to post on the weekends again. We’re not far away from Easter holidays too, so I hope to get a few more recipes done for you, my dear readers, that I failed to get done over the CNY holidays.

But, enough about my failings, and onto my successes! Here’s the recipe for my jambalaya.

Ingredients

3 sticks of celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
400 g chicken breasts, trimmed of any fat
200 g chorizo, sliced*
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500 ml chicken stock
300 g brown rice
spring onions

1. Add the celery, onion, green pepper and garlic to the slow cooker pot.
2. Place the chicken breasts and chorizo on top.
3. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices.
4. Pour the tinned tomatoes and the stock over the chicken.
5. Mix well.
6. Turn the slow cooker onto high and allow to cook for two hours.
7. After two hours, shred the chicken breasts with two forks, add the brown rice, and allow to continue in the slow cooker for another two hours (cooking for four hours in total).
8. Garnish with sliced spring onions when serving.

*If swapping the chorizo for prawns, make sure you use peeled prawns, and only add them to the slow cooker for the last 30 minutes of cooking.