Vegetarian Jambalaya

Vegetarian Jambalaya is a vegetarian version of Louisiana special Mexican rice dish prepared with trinity vegetables and beans, served with cheese & chips!

Vegetarian Jambalaya

After the rich and scrumptious festive foods, all I want is some simple, light, healthy and comfortable one-pot meal. Today I am going to share one such recipe – Vegetarian Jambalaya with leftover rice, yes I prepared it with leftover rice. According to the wiki, Jambalaya is a dish of Louisiana origin of Spanish and French. For me, it reminded me of vegetable and rajma pulao. I served this with tortilla chips, and it became a filling and a complete meal.

Where Does The Idea Come From?

I got introduced to this dish at my work. My colleagues usually bring this Jambalaya for lunch, and they were suggesting me to try the vegetarian version of it. Google helped me right away, and it helped me to land on the kitchn. The recipe was super simple, and I tried it right away. We loved it so much especially vaandu; he was relishing this with tortilla chips. That’s when the idea struck, to serve this vegetarian jambalaya in tortilla scoops with some cheese instead of regular tortilla chips. Viola that became a huge hit. :-) This recipe became a staple in our household and finally got a chance to post it here.

About the Ingredients

The main ingredients in this recipe are the holy trinity vegetables – Celery, onions and bell peppers and these veggies forms the base of many recipes originated from Louisiana. I used all colored peppers, but green is more than sufficient. To replace the meat protein, I added beans. (Of course, red kidney beans, didn’t I mention, rajma pulao) When I saw celery on the ingredient list, I was a bit reluctant but went ahead and added them. Gosh, celery elevated the flavor of this recipe especially loved the crunch that I got from celery. Celery jelled well in this dish, and this recipe is a great way to get acquired to the celery taste.

So here comes the Vegetable Rajma Pulao errr sorry Vegetarian Jambalaya. :-)

Vegetarian Jambalaya Recipe

Ingredients:

• Medium Size Onion – 1
• Chopped Colored Bell Peppers – 1 cup ( I used green, red, yellow and orange)
• Garlic Cloves – 2
• Red Kidney Beans – ¼ cup
• Celery Stalk – 2
• Small Tomatoes – 4
• Oil – 2 tbsps
• Green Chilly – 1 (I used the one that I got from Indian grocery store)
• Bay leaf – 2
• Cayenne Pepper – ½ tsp
• Paprika – ½ tsp
• Soy Sauce – 1 tsp
• Dried Thyme – ½ tsp
• Dried Oregano – ½ tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Sugar – ½ tsp
• Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsps
• Vegetable Broth – ¼ cup
• Cooked Rice – 4 cups
• Grated Cheese of your choice for garnish (optional)

Prep Work:

• I used leftover rice (Sona masoori variety), but you can also prepare and use freshly cooked rice.  Cook 2 cups of rice in your preferred way and set aside 4 cups of cooked rice. Make sure the rice is at room temperature.
• Soak the ¼ of rajma beans overnight and pressure cook it by adding ¼ tsp of salt for three whistles. We want the beans to be soft but not mushy. If you are using canned beans, rinse it and set aside.
• Clean and chop all the veggies.

Steps:

• Heat the pan and add oil.
• Once the oil is hot, the bay leaves chopped chili and garlic.
• Saute for a couple of minutes till garlic turns light brown and then add the onions and celery together and cook until the onion becomes translucent.
• Now add the bell peppers and tomatoes and cover and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add the dried herbs (oregano and thyme), sugar, salt, soy sauce, cayenne pepper and paprika and mix well. And then add the vegetable broth and cook for 2 minutes. We want the vegetables to be al-dente so make sure you do not overcook the veggies.
• Finally add the rice, chopped cilantro, and beans. Mix them well and cook until the rice absorbs all the water. It took me about 5 minutes.

That’s it. Veggie Jambalaya is ready. :-) Add some grated cheese on top or if you want to keep it vegan ignore and serve it hot with some tortilla scoops. 

Notes:

• I went with store-bought vegetable broth. You may use homemade broth or if you don’t have it in the stock, use plain water.
• As I used soy sauce and store-bought vegetable broth containing sodium, I used only one tsp of salt for this measure. But adjust as per your taste and the ingredients.
• Instead of paprika and cayenne pepper, you can use one tsp of regular red chilly powder. I didn’t feel any significant difference.
• I used regular raw rice, but Mexican rice or brown rice or basmati rice can be substituted too.
• Any beans and legumes or a mix of legumes can be added. Scrambled tofu can be added for an additional protein source.
• I would not recommend skipping celery, but if you can’t source them its okay.
• If you are using jalapenos or any other chilly variety, adjust the paprika and cayenne pepper as per your preference.
• Last but not least, adjust the salt and spices as per your preference.

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Vegetarian Jambalaya

Vegetarian Jambalaya is a vegetarian version of Louisiana special Mexican rice dish prepared with trinity vegetables and beans, served with cheese & chips!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Calories:

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 Medium Size Onion
• ▢ 1 cup Chopped Colored Bell Peppers I used green, red, yellow and orange
• ▢ 2 Garlic Cloves
• ▢ ¼ cup Red Kidney Beans
• ▢ 2 Celery Stalks
• ▢ 4 Small Tomatoes
• ▢ 2 tbsps Oil
• ▢ 1 Green Chilly I used the one that I got from Indian grocery store
• ▢ 2 Bay leaves
• ▢ ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
• ▢ ½ tsp Paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• ▢ ½ tsp Dried Thyme
• ▢ ½ tsp Dried Oregano
• ▢ 1 tsp Salt
• ▢ ½ tsp Sugar
• ▢ 2 tbsps Chopped Cilantro
• ▢ ¼ cup Vegetable Broth
• ▢ 4 cups Cooked Rice
• ▢ Grated cheese of your choice for garnishing optional

Instructions

Prep Work

• I used left over rice (sona masoori variety) but you can also prepare and use freshly cooked rice. Cook 2 cups of rice in your preferred way and set aside 4 cups of cooked rice. Make sure the rice is in room temperature.
• Soak the ¼ of rajma beans overnight and pressure cook it by adding ¼ tsp of salt for 3 whistles. We want the beans to be soft but not mushy. If you are using canned beans, rinse it and set aside.
• Clean and chop all the veggies.

Steps

• Heat the pan and add oil.
• Once the oil is hot the bay leaves, chopped chilli and garlic.
• Saute for couple of minutes till garlic turns light brown and then add the onions and celery together and cook until the onion turns translucent.
• Now add the bell peppers and tomatoes and cover and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add the dried herbs (oregano and thyme) , sugar, salt, soy sauce, cayenne pepper and paprika and mix well. And then add the vegetable broth and cook for 2 minutes. We want the vegetables to be al-dente so make sure you do not overcook the veggies.
• Finally add the rice, chopped cilantro and beans. Mix them well and cook until the rice absorbs all the water. It took me about 5 minutes.
• That’s it. Veggie Jambalaya is ready. :-) Add some grated cheese on top or if you want to keep it vegan ignore and serve it hot with some tortilla scoops.

Notes

• I went with store bought vegetable broth. Home made broth can be used or if you don't have in stock use plain water.
• As I used soy sauce and store bought vegetable broth containing sodium, I used only 1 tsp of salt for this measure. But adjust as per your taste and the ingredients.Instead of paprika and cayenne pepper, you can use 1 tsp of regular
• red chilly powder. I didn't feel any big difference.
• I used regular raw rice, but mexican rice or brown rice or basmati rice can be substituted too.
• Any beans and legumes or mix of legumes can be added. Scrambled tofu can be added for additional protein source.I would not recommend to skip celery, but if
• you can't source them its fine.
• If you are using jalapenos or any other chilly variety, adjust the paprika and cayenne pepper as per your preference.
• Last but not least, adjust the salt and spices as per your preference.
• Adapted from The Kitchn

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen

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