Jambalaya

For a friend's recent milestone birthday (aka his 30th) he rented out a house in New Hampshire and invited all his friends to come hang out for the weekend.  As a thank you and birthday present I offered to make dinner for everyone and asked what he wanted.  He asked for jambalaya which was fortunate because I had a pretty easy recipe that's gotten good reviews.  We've made this a couple times for Meals for Moms (but omitted the cayenne cuz we thought it might be too hot) and the new moms liked it, too.  I usually don't put rice in it- I make rice separately and have people pour the jambalaya onto it.  It's a little more soupy that way but still well received.

Thanks again, allrecipes.com!

Easy Cajun Jambalaya
Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 8 ounces kielbasa, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Saute chicken and kielbasa until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season with cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, or until onion is tender and translucent. Add rice, then stir in chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce.