Gumbo. A quintessential Louisiana dish. But the hard part. The Roux. That mystical blend of oil and flour that is the base for the structure of the stew. But what if I told you you could make a FABULOUS gumbo without worrying about burning the roux?
Enter Chef John:
Yes, gumbo without the roux! I know it’s blasphemy in some quarters, but I’m here to tell y’all it was AMAZING.
So, I started with some andouille.
After browning and adding a slight touch more oil for fat, I added the Trinity.
After giving that a nice sweat, I added my spices—cumin, paprika, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, pepper, and red pepper.
Bloom the spices, then add LOW SODIUM stock. Once the stock goes in, add cut up chicken thighs, cubed ham, and okra. I love frozen veggies. Of course me being me, I had to thaw it for a minute.
Bring to a boil, and simmer for like 10 minutes. Then add your lentils. I had red lentils in the house, so no problem.
Let it cook for an hour+ or until the lentils are to your desired tenderness, et voila! A lentil soup that tastes like gumbo! For final seasoning, add your choice of Louisiana style hot sauce and a dash of Worcestershire.
And oh my gosh was it good. Because being healthy, I did not serve rice with this. But YES it needs rice so badly. I didn’t have a Louisiana style hot sauce on hand, nor did I have fresh scallions for garnish, so I garnished with a few shakes of cayenne. It was spicy but not overly hot, and just a delight.
And no, I did not use filé. As a soup, it’s not necessary because the lentils act as the thickener.
However, there is a dark ending to this story. Because my nutrition plan as a bariatric patient requires me to have more protein than anything else, I often go a week eating something like 12 total grams of fiber. This soup, amazing as it is, was pretty much my meals for the week. (See my diary on meal planning.) So I was consuming now between 12-15 grams of fiber per DAY. A sudden influx of fiber causes things to happen, and we’ll leave it at that.
So WFD tonight is something premade—just heat in the oven. Why? At the time this gets published, I’ll be prepping for my second show of Guys and Dolls of the day. So it’s easy meals for next week. When I get home between 10 and 11pm CT, I’ll comment and rec. In the meantime, enjoy the gumbo discussion!
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