Soul Food: Cajun-inspired Soup
FitMenCook
My name is Kevin. My life changed when I realized that healthy living is truly a lifelong journey, mainly won by having a well-balanced diet and enjoying adequate exercise. By experimenting in the kitchen and openly sharing my meals, I learned that healthy eating is hardly boring and that by making a few adjustments, I could design a diet that could help me achieve my personal fitness goals. Our bodies are built in the kitchen and sculpted in the gym.
Food brings everyone together. Soul food is all about love and sharing. And soup warms us all. There’s no better time than right now for us to sit and break bread. If Jambalaya and Etouffee decided to be a soup, it’d be this recipe…
Soul Food: Cajun-inspired Soup
Ingredients for 6 servings
- spray olive oil
- 6oz (170g) smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 medium white onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2lb chicken breast, chopped into 1-inch cubes
- Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or more/less depending on spice level)
- ALTERNATIVE SPICE OPTION – use 3 tablespoons The Fit Cook Southern Creole blend
- 6oz (170g) tomato paste
- 14.5oz (411g) no-salt-added canned diced tomatoes
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 3 bay leaves
- pinches of sea salt & pepper
- 1lb raw jumbo shrimp
- 3 cups cooked brown rice (OPTIONAL or use cauliflower rice for lower-carb option)
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- Set a pot on medium high heat.
- Once hot, spray with olive oil, then add the chopped sausage. Saute for about 2 minutes until the edges become seared and the sausages begin to “sweat” to make more oil in the pan.
- Add the garlic and the “holy trinity of cajun cooking” – bell pepper, onion and celery. Cook everything together for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken and cook everything together until sear marks form on the outside of the chicken, about 3 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and the seasonings and stir everything together for 1-2 minutes. It should create a sticky, fragrant paste.
- Then add the canned tomatoes and the broth. Stir and bring everything to a boil, adding pinches of sea salt & pepper.
- Once it begins to boil, reduce to a simmer on low heat. Add the bay leaves and cover and cook for at least 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, add the shrimp and cooked rice. Stir, then cover and cook again for another 15 minutes.
- Add lemon (if desired), and season to taste with sea salt & pepper. Enjoy!
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