1lbboneless, skinless chickencut into bite-sized pieces
1lbshrimppeeled and deveined
1lbsmoked andouille sausagesliced diagonally
1tspCajun seasoningplus more to sprinkle on meats
4tbspbutter
1/4cupflour
1large oniondiced
12ozfrozen sliced okra
4clovesgarlicminced
3bell peppersred, yellow, and green, diced
28ozcanned diced tomatoesundrained
48ozbox chicken or seafood broth
1tspblack pepper
1/4-1/2tspcayenne pepperor to taste
Instructions
Sprinkle chicken and shrimp with Cajun seasoning.
Heat a large Dutch oven or wok to medium-high heat. Cook sausage slices to preference - I like mine fairly blackened, or at least with a good amount of dark brown on the outside. Set sausage aside and brown the chicken. Remove chicken from pan.
Reduce heat to medium and melt the butter. Add the flour, and cook it, stirring and scraping very frequently so it doesn't burn, until it is the color of a copper penny. The darker roux gives a nice nutty flavor to the soup. Yum!
Throw in the onions and cook until they just start to soften and become translucent.
Add the sliced okra and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts getting slimy. When you know its slimy thickening magic has begun, add the garlic and bell peppers. Everything should be sort of coated in a roux/okra slime mixture. Cook for 5-10 minutes until they are tender-crisp - if in doubt, underestimate the cook time here. They can always cook more when you add the broth, but you don't want soggy vegetables.
Stir in undrained tomatoes (the juice just adds more flavor to the broth!) and then add broth slowly while stirring constantly so that the roux doesn't clump up.
Add Cajun seasoning, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmering. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add your chicken, sausage, and raw shrimp in and simmer for another 5 minutes or so, until the meats are heated through and the shrimp is opaque.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream over rice.
Notes
If you eat Paleo or gluten-free, you can probably leave out the roux and just harness the powers of okra slime to thicken your gumbo. Let me know how it is!