This is one of my favorite things to make for a din­ner party because it’s a one pot dish that needs only a green salad to com­plete the entire meal. Plus, it’s great the next day, too. Don’t be over­whelmed by the list of ingre­di­ents – it goes really fast. Try Heather’s Salad as a crisp cool accompaniment.

Prep time: 30 min­utes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: Serves 10–12
Spe­cial equip­ment: dutch oven (optional)

4 T olive oil
1 yel­low onion, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
1 large red bell pep­per, chopped
3 stalks of cel­ery, chopped
4 cloves gar­lic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 jalapeno chilis, finely chopped with seeds
4 T Cre­ole Sea­son­ing (I use Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 pkg. (about 12 oz) browned andouille chicken sausage (Trader Joe’s), cut length­wise, then sliced
1 pkg. (about 12 oz) browned chipo­tle chicken sausage (Trader Joe’s), cut length­wise, then sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1 16 oz. can plum toma­toes, diced with liq­uid
3 c. Bas­mati rice
1/2 – 3/4 lb. cooked jumbo shrimp
1 c. green frozen peas
hand­ful of chopped cilantro

1. Add olive oil to a large, heavy Dutch oven (or heavy duty pot with lid) over medium-heat. Add onions, pep­pers, cel­ery, bay leaves, jalapenos and thyme. Cover and cook until veg­eta­bles are ten­der, stir­ring occa­sion­ally, about 10 min­utes. Add gar­lic and Cre­ole sea­son­ing and saute 2 min­utes more.
2. Add rice, sausage, toma­toes and broth. Bring mix­ture to boil, then reduce heat to low and cover until rice is very ten­der, stir­ring once, about 25–30 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and peas and stir. Cover for addi­tional 5 min­utes. Serve imme­di­ately with sprin­kled cilantro on top or let it sit for up to an hour and serve at room temperature.