Creole with Chicken, Sausage or Shrimp

It's "Fat Tuesday" and to celebrate, we're having Creole. I lived in Louisiana for a few years as a kid and have returned several times for vacation and Gregg and I even went to New Orleans for our honeymoon. I really love the culture there. The music, the food, the people, the architecture, the food. My favorite Creole and Cajun foods are the spicy dishes. Gregg prefers the sweet though a nice pot of red beans and rice would satisfy him BEFORE the double serving of bread pudding. (He'll skip the crawfish every time though.)

Creole is a favorite spicy dish of mine. It can be made with chicken or shrimp as well. Tonight I was just really in the mood for some andouille. Now if I could only figure out how to make bread pudding with no gluten and no sugar. Shouldn't be TOO difficult, right?



Chicken/Shrimp/Sausage Creole

1 medium onion, chopped
1 chopped green bell pepper
2 ribs of celery, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen organic fire roasted tomatoes)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp thyme
Cayenne pepper to taste (I like mine spicy!)
Sea salt
Plenty of fresh ground red pepper
2 bay leaves
1 pound of boned and skinned chicken breast, cooked and chopped OR one pound of cooked shrimp, OR one pound of andouille sausage. (I like Sausage by Amy brand andouille. Just enough spice without all the nitrates.)

Sauté first 4 ingredients in hot oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes and the next 6 ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes. Remove half of the tomato mixture from the pan and process it in the blender until smooth. Add it back to pan and stir in chicken, sausage or shrimp and cook for 5-10 more minutes on medium heat. Remove and discard bay leaves. Serve over hot cooked brown rice.