Chicken Gumbo, Yo

Something new!  Something successful! I kicked off two of my 2011 things to accomplish last night with this Chicken Gumbo Soup from a cookbook that my mom gave me for Christmas, Simply Soup. First, it was a new recipe, made in an allergy friendly manner. Second, I froze four servings to eat later. Although I had to send Husband to the store for okra and an onion, I'm still proud of myself!

This was no wheat day, so I used Rye flour instead of all-purpose flour and was a little scared that the substitution would ruin the soup, but it was still pretty good.  You know, I didn't even think to research what type of flour would be best (besides regular) for soups.   It is intimidating how many different types of flour are out there.  I purchased soy, rye and brown rice flour from my country bumpkin Kroger last week, so just think what you would be able to get at a "real" grocery store.

A note on the meat - I bought a carton of chicken broth to use, but it was only 4 cups. Because I used boiled chicken breasts, I was able to use an extra cup of the "chick breast stock" to make the full 5 cups.  Also, Husband grilled the garlic sausage the previous night and it did not taste good at all. But the flavor really came out when it was cooked in the soup, so don't judge the garlic sausage if you've never had it.  It was the perfect thing, and the best part of the soup in my opinion.

Other changes to the recipe: I added a can of kidney beans with the tomatoes and used brown rice rather than white rice. I also dosed the gumbo with chili powder at the last minute. And because bell peppers are not on the list of things to eat for the next month, no green bell peppers for this girl's gumbo. I had a severe allergy attack just cutting a poblano pepper the other day. Really, I'm not kidding. You woulda thought I was chopping giant mutant venomous jalapaños (Why does spellcheck want to change that to Galapanos?).