This past Thanksgiving, I got the wonderful pleasure of visiting a friend in New Orleans. I had never been to Louisiana before and my excitement was killing me on the plane ride down. Thank goodness the trip was only 2 hours. I read a magazine about what to do there, and more importantly what to eat. I knew it was a state that relied heavily on shrimp, sausage, and beans, but I was still more than ready to learn all about their cooking.
On one of the first days there we hit up the Cooking Museum. Now my friend, Dan, was didn't seem as excited as me, but sharing my love for food he made a serious attempt to look excited. And for that, I thank him. It was probably a bit easy to be happy also, because he knew I would be trying out the many things I learned, and he would be force fed (well it is pretty hard to force feed him) but anyway, we trudged on. The museum was a great display of what Louisiana has to offer in the form of food. I stared up at all the posters reading, trying to memorize every word.
Now, I know what you're thinking. It's impossible to be a vegan in the south. And for that, you would be pretty correct. I have to admit we lived off of subway and falafels. But did manage to find a couple great places to eat along the way. But what I was more excited about was learning to cook these dishes at home sometime, and I promised Dan that whenever he came to visit Wisconsin again, I would know how to make Jumbalaya, red beads and rice, and gumbo. Well, obviously months have passed, and I sadly have to admit that I have not had a chance to make Jumbalya, but when I was looking for a dish to make my family this week, I came across a recipe for it. Unfortunately, I am still in the process of making it and do not have my recipe quite yet, but I am just too excited to contain my self. My vegetables are cooking, and found this was the only thing that I would do to occupy my time, without eating the entire pot before it was even ready.
Now, if you read any of my previous posts, you are well aware that my family are meat eaters, so to suit their needs, and mine, I have come up with a brilliant plan. Well, it's really quite simple. I am making my delicious vegan stew, fully equipped with veggie broth, piles of vegetables, and without meat. I am then taking out my share (or probably more than my share, cuz I know I will want leftovers) and then adding some sausage to theirs. Pretty smart, I know. This allows me to only dirty one pan, and only have to make on batch. Honestly, I could probably put vegan chirizo in it and my family might not notice, but the other night at dinner my dad asked it he was eating real meatballs, so I feel he may be on to me. And, if he sees me biting into a piece of "meat" he probably would push the dish aside. But nonetheless, I get to eat my jumbalaya! Finally! I will post my recipe tonight....probably awhile after dinner because I won't be able to move from the amount of food in my stomach. And, I have fresh herbed bread baking right now. Only if you could smell my kitchen!
