Every Sunday, I make my breakfasts and lunches for the work week, so I don’t have to worry about whether our work cafeteria is going to have something I can eat other than the boring-ass salad bar. I decided this week that I was in the mood for something Cajun. I considered gumbo, but it’s finally hitting actual summer weather here, so I didn’t want soup. And try as I might, I haven’t figured out a good way to make a keto etouffee, so jambalaya was the compromise. And as it turns out, it was a very tasty compromise indeed.
Start by chopping a half pound of chicken breasts (this was one large breast for me) and slicing four pre-cooked pork andouille sausages. I used the Aidell’s brand. While you are chopping and slicing, heat up 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. If you don’t have a stainless steel skillet, check your local restaurant supply store. You can get one for relatively cheap and it’s going to be chef quality. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste. Cook the chicken and sausage in the oil until the sausage browns and the chicken just begins to turn golden. The picture below is what you’ll want it to look like.
While you’re cooking the chicken and sausage, chop half a large onion, a green pepper, and two large stalks of celery. When the chicken and sausage are done, put them aside in a bowl, using a slotted spoon so most of the fat drains back into the skillet. Add the vegetables to the skillet. If you want, you can add garlic here, but I’ve got a nice hack that gives you the garlic flavor without having to chop anything else. After about three or four minutes, add a tablespoon or more of Cajun seasoning to the veggies and turn to coat and toast the spices a bit. Make sure your seasoning blend is sugar-free! Some of them contain added sugar. You’ll want it to contain salt, though. If it doesn’t, add about a teaspoon of salt.
The veggies and Cajun seasoning.
When the onions just begin turning translucent, like in the picture above, add the chicken and sausage back into the pan along with a can of diced tomatoes. Bring it to a simmer, and while it simmers, here’s my garlic hack. Instead of making my own cauliflower rice, which messes up a food processor and gets cauliflower dust all over my kitchen, I used two bags of Birds Eye Steamfresh brand roasted garlic flavored riced cauliflower. You can get these in the frozen section of your grocery store. Heat these up in the microwave while the skillet contents simmer and some of the liquid cooks off. You can of course use your own cauliflower rice, but you’ll want to cook it for longer once it’s in there, and you’ll need to make sure that you either add minced garlic in with the vegetables or garlic powder to the spices.
When the liquid from the tomatoes cooks down a bit, it’ll be time to add the cauliflower rice. Conveniently, this takes about as long as it takes to heat up two bags of cauliflower rice, one after the other. Add the rice in, stir it to combine evenly, and continue to simmer for about five minutes. At this point, add hot sauce to taste as well as any additional salt and pepper needed. I used Frank’s Red Hot because that’s what I had, but Tabasco is probably the most authentic. This makes five good-sized servings, perfect for a work week lunch.
Chop chicken into bite sized pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice the sausage into thin coins.
In a large stainless steel skillet, heat up the avocado oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sausage and cook, turning once, until both sides of the sausage are browned and the chicken just starts to turn golden. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the skillet.
While the chicken and sausage cook, chop the onion, green pepper, and celery. When the chicken and sausage are removed, add the vegetables and optional garlic (see notes above). Saute for about 3-4 minutes, then add the Cajun seasoning, tossing to coat. Saute for 1-2 minutes more, until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
As the tomatoes simmer and reduce, heat up both bags of riced cauliflower in the microwave. This should take about ten minutes. Add the cauliflower and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add hot sauce and salt and pepper as needed. Simmer for 5 more minutes and serve.
Macros, using Aidell's sausage: 313 calories, 8 grams net carbs, 25 grams protein, 18 grams fat.
Keyword Cajun, chicken, keto, low carb, main dish, make ahead, sausage, spicy
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