Easy Shrimp Jambalaya–because Lili wants some

My ten-year-old’s school has quite the variety when it comes to the lunchroom: chicken alfredo with broccoli, beef burritos with Mexican beans, pepperoni calzones, Salisbury steak, and (always, at least once a month) some jambalaya dish. Okay now look, my mother didn’t cook jambalaya. My grandmothers didn’t cook jambalaya. My aunts didn’t cook jambalaya. And my great-grandmother didn’t cook jambalaya. I didn’t grow up eating the stuff, but Lili wants some, so I’m trying different kinds of jambalaya. Every time I see a “jambalaya cookoff”, I gotta roll my eyes.  Do you know how many different varieties of jambalaya there are? I’d sit there and calculate it using combinatorics I learned in my discrete mathematics class in graduate school, but let’s save time and just say “a whole lot. Like a LOT.”

I personally eschew combining meats and seafood normally, and every jambalaya dish I see combines shrimp with something else. Nope. Not in this house. Hell to the neaux. I can’t tell you how tight my sphincter gets when I see “shrimp and andouille PASTAlaya with cream sauce” on a restaurant menu. Don’t get me started. The only combination of shrimp with meat I can forgive is chicken and shrimp gumbo. That’s it. But shrimp and andouille? Nope. Shrimp and tasso? Negative. Shrimp and sausage? You get the picture, now get the F outta here with that nonsense. The following recipe is shrimp jambalaya. Not shrimp and sausage jambalaya. Not shrimp and anything else jambalaya. I’m already out of my comfort zone making jambalaya. Give me a damn break.

2 or 3 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup butter

3 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice

2 teaspoons of creole seasoning

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, drained

2 pounds cooked shrimp (I like to use the large or extra large.)

Saute onion and bell pepper in butter until tender. Add broth, rice, creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender. Stir in tomatoes and shrimp and heat through.