RouxBDoo's Low Carb Gumbo

Hi friends, in an effort to help others, I am posting my “Low Carb Gumbo” recipe I have developed.  As some of you might know I have been diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic.  I have adopted a Low Carb lifestyle and am enjoying reworking some of my old recipes.  This recipe for gumbo contains everything from my regular gumbo except for a roux, or rather the flour for a roux.

A Cajun dark roux is made for flavor, not for thickening.  The darker the roux, the less thickening power it has, whereas a blonde roux will thicken a soup significantly.  The okra will thicken the gumbo and the Filé powder (if available) will also thicken it, if it is fresh.  I don’t think you’ll notice a big difference.

If you serve it with rice you are defeating the purpose.  This Gumbo is Low Carb, not Low Fat, nor Low Calorie.  It tastes like your good ol’ Nawlins’ Gumbo Ya-Ya (chicken, andouille, and shrimp) just not as dark.  Be choosy when selecting your smoked sausage and find one without so much sugar and carbs in it.  Always check the labels.  The yield of this recipe is about 6 servings of 10 oz each.  Each serving around 5 grams of carbs.  Like every Gumbo, it’s always better the second day reheated and simmered  Yes, all you purists I added some tomato in the form of Rotel.  We'll just call it Creole-ish.

Remember, the key to a successful Low Carb lifestyle is don’t let yourself get bored, don’t let yourself get hungry.  Good Luck Friends!

Ingredients

½ (2 oz) small onion, diced (4g carbs)
1 lg stalk celery, diced (.5g carbs)
½ cup green pepper, diced (2g carbs)
1 tbs minced garlic (1g carbs)
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce (3g carbs)
½ lb Andouille sausage (4g carbs)
2 green onions, diced (2g carbs)
2 chicken stock cube (or 2 tbs stock powder) (2g carbs)
½ cup Rotel tomatoes (2g carbs)
1 cup okra (4g carbs)
½ rotisserie chicken, skinned, boned and rough chopped (0g carbs)
8 - 12 oz shrimp (cleaned and deveined) (0g carbs)
6 cups water (0g carbs)
¼ cup or ½ stick butter (0g carbs)
½ tsp liquid smoke (0g carbs) *opt.
1 tbs Filé powder (3g carbs)
½ tsp each salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dried Italian herbs (1g carbs)

Serving size: 8-10 oz
Total servings: 6
Net carbs: under 5

Melt butter in a pot on MED heat, saute your onion until brown, add garlic, celery, green pepper, and spices.  When it has started to cook down add your okra.  Stir this a bit to work the “Shine” off the okra. Now, add your smoked sausage, chicken meat, and stir well for about 5 mins.  Add Rotel, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, stir well to further combine all the ingredients.

Set the 6 cups of water on the stove in a pot and bring to a boil.  Add your chicken stock and blend well.  If you have time you can skip using the stock cube and make stock from the bones and skin of the chicken, along with any onion or celery scraps, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Strain all the scraps and bones from the stock and use 6 cups in your gumbo.  *Never use green pepper scraps in a stock.

Add the stock to the gumbo pot. Bring up to a boil and then simmer well for an hour.  Just about 15 mins before serving add your filé powder, green onions, and shrimp.  Check your seasonings and salt, then let this wonderful gumbo relax a bit while the shrimp are getting cozy and your filé is doing it’s job thickening the soup up.

Enjoy this soup without worrying about the carbs.  Take care and check in again soon!

RouxBDoo