Happy Mardi Gras!!!

I really wish I lived somewhere that celebrated Mardi Gras, it seems like a super fun holiday. I thought about making an oatmeal Kings cake, but I'm still trying to abstain from sugar. So I instead I made up a big pot of shrimp gumbo, thickened with steel cut oatmeal instead of a roux, and to replace the rice.

Here is the recipe:
1/2 cup steel cut oats
2 cups vegetable broth
1 red pepper (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
2 medium onions (diced)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup diced celery
1/2 lb sausage (I used spicy chicken sausage links, cut into 1/4" slices)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T butter
1 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

In a sauce pan, boil the broth and oats, cover and reduce heat to low. In a large Dutch oven, sauté the veggies, spices, and sausage in the butter until the sausage browns a bit and the onions have softened. Add the can of tomatoes. After the oats have simmered for 30 minutes, add the oatmeal to the Dutch oven and stir. Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes. Add the shrimp, and stir until shrimp is fully cooked. Serves about 6.


Hot and spicy and savory, this dish almost made me feel like I was somewhere warmer and more festive. Happy Mardi Gras everyone!