It has been a long time since a pot of gumbo was on the stove. And like so many others, my weight is a little higher than preferred.  How could I make Chicken & Sausage Gumbo in a healthy way?  It occurred to me, no gumbo worth cooking could be healthy, but it could be made less unhealthy.  Four changes came to mind:

1. less roux

2. skinless chicken

3. turkey sausage

4. more vegetables

G-Man’s Less Unhealthy Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients

Directions

1. Prepare celery, onion, and bell pepper.

2. Remove skin from drumsticks

3. Add flour and oil to pot, over low heat, stirring continuously to prevent burning, until browned.

4. In separate skillet, render fat from chicken skins. Season chicken with salt and pepper, cook over medium heat until partially browned. Remove from skillet, set aside.

5. Brown turkey sausage in skillet.

6. Continue to brown roux until darkened, not quite to color of chocolate milk.

7. Add celery, onion, bell pepper to roux, cook over medium to medium-low heat, until onions are soft, but not caramelized.

8. Add 32oz of chicken stock, stir until mixed well.

9. Add chicken and turkey sausage, adjust heat to medium-low, cover and cook 45-60 mins.

10. Remove bones from chicken.

11. Thaw asparagus in microwave until soft enough to cut each stalk into 1” segments.

12. Add asparagus and kale, simmer in gumbo until hot and wilting.

13. Add enough additional chicken stock and mix until desired consistency.

The size of chopped vegetables is not critical, but needs to be consistent and small enough to mix well with chicken that is falling apart at end of cook.

Making roux over low heat will take 45 – 60 minutes. One can prepare vegetables and drumsticks while making roux, if one is good at multitasking. If you see black specs/flakes in the roux, it has burned and you will need to start over. Multitasking has its risks and rewards.

Roux after 30 minutes. The color change is very subtle at this point. It will darken a lot in the next 30 minutes.

Roux after 60 minutes. Rendered chicken skin in skillet to right.

Add the celery, onion, and bell pepper. Season with cajun spice stir, often if not continuously.

Drumsticks should look similar to these before adding to pot.

This is what it should look like before simmering for 45 – 60 minutes.

Kale and asparagus in, simmered 15-20 mins.

In this cook, I......

- could have gone darker on the roux, thought lighter might be better with chicken and turkey

- substituted a red bell pepper for a green one

- used Hillshire Farm Smoked Turkey Sausage, rather than chicken/turkey andouille

- believe cutting sausage smaller creates more surface area to absorb chicken flavor from skillet

- could not find okra, so used kale and asparagus instead, not much different in nutrition, but just more of it.

- used Kirkland Signature Organic Chicken Stock

- used Tony Chachere's Original Creole seasoning

- believe the flavor of asparagus does not stand up to cajun seasoning, but adds..."texture".

- could easily use bone-in, skin-on thighs, but got a good deal on drumsticks

- did not add additional chicken stock at end of cook, stored in more concentrated form, added stock when reheated.

I have heard and read about......

- cooking roux at higher temp for faster result

- browning flour in the oven, avoiding the oil, and requires less babysitting

Thanks! Hope you enjoy if you try it.