All's well that ends well - William Shakespeare
This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was picked by Anonymous New York who picked Ellie's jambalaya with shrimp and ham. I was excited to make this recipe even though I don't eat ham, and the last time I ate shrimp (a couple months ago) I ended up in the emergency room. But I had plans!
Plan A
Replace shrimp with chicken and ham with ? (I didn't say these were well developed plans)
Plan B
Replace shrimp with salmon and ham with smoked tofu (Thank God this one didn't pan out...what was I thinking?)
Plan C
Replace shrimp with salmon and ham with Soyrizo (meatless soy chorizo, I was surprised to find this at Safeway, where I had gone in a halfhearted attempt to find smoked tofu). Again, happy this one didn't get made but this was what I was going with until the salmon looked iffy and I settled on...
Plan D, or not a plan at all but basically what I made for dinner
Replace shrimp with kidney beans (what?) and replace the ham with Soyrizo
I accidently included some of the ingredients Ellie called for:
Red and green peppers (I used red and yellow)
Onion-YES!
Garlic-YES!
Paprika-(I used smoked Spanish paprika and skipped the cayenne)
Tomato paste, chicken broth, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper and bay leaf-YES!
White rice (I used brown, which I parboiled so dinner would be ready before midnight)
That's when I stopped reading 'cause I knew the wheels were already off and the bus was careening down the cliff.
Because I had opened my Soyrizo and discovered it was, um, very squishy for a mock-sausage. The instructions said to fry it hot and fast. So I fried it on medium and discovered...
(pause to take comforting bite of chocolate)
...that it goes from semi-liquid to burned in two minutes.
Even with all of the twists and turns, this meal was pretty good. Even the crispy Soyrizo was good. Who knew a burned soy product could taste good?!
Thanks to Anonymous New York for what must have been a great pick before I got my hands on it. You can find the real recipe here.
9 comments:
I have heard nothing but wonderful things about soyrizo but I'll admit, I'm scared to try it. I also love the "comforting bite of chocolate" -- you're too funny, Leslie! I've been known to do the exact same thing. I'm glad that it worked out. I was on the edge of my seat to see which combination you were going to choose.
LOL I think you've cured me of ever wanting to try Soyrizo. In theory, it sounds good, and I'm glad you liked the taste, but semiliquid sausage sounds like some kind of crazy concoction they game up with on Iron Chef.
Sounds like it all turned out well though, and that's all that matters :)
alas, another friend like me with a shellfish allergy? Its a bummer isn't it? Yours looks great. I think if I make again I will make with chicken and sausage.
Both this:
"...that it goes from semi-liquid to burned in two minutes. "
and this:
"I accidentally included some of the ingredients Ellie called for"
absolutely cracked me up. LOL.
--Nick
cute post :)
It does look good, though I don't know if I could get on board with smoked tofu or soyrizo. Maybe if you hid your vegetarian protein on me like Joanne does.
-Sara
I think soyrizo is delicious! I'm happy I just checked Ellie's book out of the library; I love the idea of a healthy jambalaya. And to answer your question about the giant farmer's market featured in my last TWD post: it's at the civic center in San Rafael, CA. I have lived in Marin for over a year and for some ridiculous reason never shopped there until last weekend!
I love your vegetarian version. it sounds tasty.
Oh my goodness! Thanks for giving it a try! I'm glad you liked it despite your challenges! One of the other bloggers used tofu pepperoni and even her husband could barely tell! So if you think that the recipe is a keeper, you might try that next time. :-)
You are laugh out loud funny! Glad this worked out for you - bus careening off the cliff and all.
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